As Wiese grew up and his operation transitioned to beef ranching, a lot of farming challenges have come and gone over the decades, but rarely did they involve wolves steeling a calf, harassing the herd, or maybe taking down a pregnant cow.

But sometime around the 1970s, things began to change. Wiese's son, Danny, who grew up working on his dad's cattle ranch and now owns and manages a 3,000-acre spread that grazes more than 400 black angus, said it was about 30 years ago that the evocative nighttime howl of the wolf once again became a regular part of the central Minnesota landscape.

The ever-resilient timber wolf, perhaps more properly called the gray wolf, has climbed back from near-extinction caused by the aggressive hunting and trapping of Minnesota pioneers.

It was about in the 1970s that wolf attacks on cattle herds started to become more commonplace, Danny Wiese said, and the problem has continued to grow, even more so in the past 10 years.

Indeed, it was 1974 that the timber wolf began being protected under the Endangered Species Act, which made the hunting and trapping of timber wolves a federal crime. Since then, wolf numbers have rebounded from a few hundred to an estimated 3,000 in Minnesota today.

One month ago, Danny Wiese's cousin, Louie Wiese, who farms northeast of Pine River in Ponto Township, lost at least two calves to wolf predation and a pregnant cow that was killed and had her unborn calf torn out of her.

Danny Wiese said it's been a couple of years since wolves have killed cattle on his ranch, but his herd has recently been attacked and harassed by wolves, with a number of his calves having gaping bite wounds on their hind legs to show for it.

The recent and increasing problems local ranchers have been having with wolves come at a time when the federal government has decided to delist the timber wolf from protection under the Endangered Species Act.

The gray wolf was delisted May 4, but area DNR conservation officer Nikki Shoutz said this is not going to change things much over the next five years in terms of wolf management.

"The DNR's policy is to observe, study and monitor the wolf situation over five years," she said. "During that time the DNR is going to formulate a policy on how best to manage wolves in Minnesota."

What has changed is that farmers and ranchers are now allowed to use deadly force against timber wolves if the animals are threatening their livestock. Under the previous policy, farmers were not allowed to harm wolves, even if the predators were in the pasture and attacking cows.

However, there are two separate wolf management zones in Minnesota. The dividing line runs right through the heart of Minnesota lake country. Starting up north with the town of Roseau, the northeastern wolf zone is drawn by connecting a jagged line of small towns - running through Park Rapids, Pine River, Crosby, Aitkin and so on.

Everything to the northeast of these towns is Zone A, and everything southwest is Zone B.

It's important for farmers to know which DNR zone they live within, and know the rules for that zone. For example, Shoutz said Zone A rules require there be an actual loss of a farm animal before deadly force can be used against wolves.

In Zone B, a person may shoot a gray wolf at any time to protect livestock, domestic animals or pets on land they own, lease or manage.

Previous to the delisting, the only option available to farmers who lost cattle to wolves was to apply for reimbursement of the market value of the animal from the Department of Agriculture - a process that is not always perfect, said Danny Wiese.

"You have to jump through so many hoops before you can prove that you lost a cow to a wolf," Wiese said. "It has to be reported within 24 hours, and then a DNR officer has to come out and inspect the site. Sometimes it's hard to find exact evidence. Sometimes a calf is just missing and you can't prove a wolf took it."

However, Wiese said he feels the DNR does the best it can in helping farmers like him get compensation for wolf-killed livestock, and in those cases where he could prove wolf predation, he received fair market value for the lost animal from the government.

In addition to reimbursing farmers for lost cattle, the DNR can also enlist the aid of federal wolf trappers to trap and kill wolves that are causing major problems for specific farmers.

In the case of the wolf hot spot near the Louie Wiese ranch, for example, federal wolf trapper Abraham Wolf of Grand Rapids was brought in to trap and kill wolves in that area. Shoutz said that particular pack of wolves in the Ponto Township area is well-known for causing trouble.

On April 14, Wolf trapped and killed two male timber wolves weighing in at about 80 pounds each. Since then, Shoutz said Wolf has trapped and killed six more wolves on the Wiese ranch.

While many farmers in the area feel that delisting the gray wolf from federal protection is a positive step forward, they also realize things aren't likely to change soon. There are still 3,000 wolves in Minnesota, and the DNR is taking a measured and careful approach to their management.

Also, the federal government fully expects a legal challenge to the wolf's delisting by the Humane Society of the United States, which has already sent a notice to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service saying it plans to challenge the delisting in court.

As for rancher Danny Wiese, all he wants is some "reasonable control."

"No, I'm not saying I want the wolf hunted to extinction," he said. "I just think we need some good way to protect our herds, and our investments. And maybe there are too many wolves now. I think delisting the wolf gives us greater ability to protect our own herds."