Although legislative leaders appear to be hastening to finish the 2012 session early, environment chairs in both chambers still have a number of policy issues to wrestle with before their work is done.

Legislation to allow a wolf hunting season in Minnesota is scheduled on Thursday to be heard in a state House committee. The House bill and the DNR disagree about the timing of the wolf season.

Minnesota lawmakers want to get in and out of the Capitol as quickly as possible this year, a fact that’s evident in skimming through the first bills of the 2012 session.

Legislative leaders have promised a quick legislative session, potentially finishing up business before Easter. But that hasn’t dissuaded legislators from filing more than 140 bills ahead of the 2012 legislative session, which commences next week.

Republican legislative leaders’ aborted move to fire the veteran lead staffer on an environmental funding commission is still mired in mystery and fueling controversy.

In 1954, when Tom Anzelc was 8 years old, his family was kicked off their plot of land near Keewatin on the Iron Range. The parcel, along with 40 to 60 others, was confiscated for mineral exploration.

To the surprise of many, time ran out on the Legislature before votes were taken on several prominent bills unrelated to Minnesota’s general fund budget battle. While some bills passed the Legislature in the last three days of session, a raft of legislation now sits in limbo, including the Legacy funding bill and pension reform.

Lawmakers from the Iron Range are fuming over a move by Republicans to use dedicated northern Minnesota economic development dollars to help solve the $5 billion budget deficit.

State Rep. David Dill, DFL-Crane Lake, is recovering after undergoing a kidney transplant Tuesday. Family members told the Duluth News Tribune that he is walking and feeling well. He could be released from the hospital as early as Saturday.

Minnesota state Rep. David Dill, who has suffered from kidney disease for more than four decades, expects to undergo a kidney transplant soon, according to a report on Timberjay.com.