Humane World for Animals is suing the Michigan Natural Resources Commission over its decision to make it easier to kill coyotes in the state. (Courtesy of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, via Bridge Michigan)

(This story was originally published by Bridge Michigan, a nonprofit and nonpartisan news organization. Visit the newsroom online: bridgemi.com.)

Humane World for Animals, formerly the Humane Society, on Tuesday sued the Michigan Natural Resources Commission, hoping to undo the commission’s recent decision to allow coyotes to be killed year-round.

The commission, which regulates hunting and fishing in the state, voted Jan. 14 to create a new management season that, combined with a hunting season, would essentially allow coyotes to be killed year-round for any reason.

The animal rights group wants the Ingham County Circuit Court to walk back that decision and reinstate a three-month “quiet period” during which coyotes can’t be hunted.

Humane World for Animals says the commission’s vote wasn’t based on science and happened too quickly after its March 2024 decision to shorten the season to nine months.

“Michigan law requires the Natural Resources Commission to use sound scientific management when making decisions about how to manage the state’s wildlife, including coyotes,” Margie Robinson, senior staff attorney for Humane World for Animals, said in a written statement. “Scientific research shows that extending indiscriminate killing of coyotes won’t reduce their populations or address perceived conflicts with farm animals.”

Members of the Natural Resources Commission said they could not comment on pending litigation.

This is not the first time the commission has been sued by someone arguing they made a decision that did not follow science.

In March 2024, the commission voted to shorten the coyote hunting season from year-round to nine months to allow coyote mothers three months to raise their pups. Two hunting and trapping advocacy groups filed lawsuits saying the Natural Resources Commission’s decision was in response to social pressure and not based on science. An Ingham County Circuit Court judge ruled on that suit in June, saying that the commission’s decision to shorten the season had been legally sound.

At its last meeting Jan. 14, the Natural Resources Commission passed an amendment that shortened the coyote hunting and trapping season but created a new “management season,” the first of its kind, to allow coyotes to be killed on public or private lands for any reason.

“We know that coyotes can cause problems,” Natural Resources Commission Chair Becky Humphries told Bridge Michigan after the vote. “We’re trying to free up the reins and provide that opportunity and yet still be respectful of the resource and the users out there.”

Coyotes could already be killed on private property year-round if they threatened or damaged livestock.

The new coyote management season is slated to run from March 2 to Oct. 14 and the new hunting and trapping season will run from Oct. 15 to March 1, together encompassing a year.