Conservationists, hunters clash on WI wolf hunt

2:31 PM, Jul 17, 2012   |  

Written by Associated Press

STEVENS POINT — Conservationists and animal lovers pushed the state Department of Natural Resources’ board Tuesday to reduce kill goals for Wisconsin’s new wolf hunt, arguing the population remains fragile.

The DNR has proposed limiting the harvest to 201 wolves, roughly a quarter of the state’s population. The agency’s board was expected to vote on the plan Tuesday.
The wolf hunt has emerged as one of the most contentious wildlife issues the DNR has had to navigate in recent years. Nearly 100 people packed the board’s meeting at a Stevens Point hotel, and 43 had registered to speak, promising a long, bruising debate before the vote.


Hunt supporters argued wolves have more than re-established themselves in the state. Ecologists, conservationists and wolf lovers countered a hunt combined with other wolf deaths from illegal kills and car crashes could result in a drastic dip in wolf numbers.
Howard Goldman, the Minnesota state director of the Humane Society of the United States, told the board there’s no biological reason to hunt Wisconsin wolves, noting President Barack Obama’s administration just removed Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin wolves from the endangered species list in January.


“What’s the rush?” Goldman said. “The wolf is not just another game species.”
Orman Waukau, a member of the Menominee Nation tribal council, told the board his people revere the wolf.
“In effect, we’re saying we’re going to go out there and hunt our brothers and sisters,” he said.
But hunter representatives countered the quota is too low, pointing out the DNR estimates as many as 880 wolves roam the state, far exceeding the agency’s goal of 350.


Ralph Fritsch, chairman of the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation’s wildlife committee, called the harvest goal “ultra-conservative” and said it will do nothing to decrease the population. Bob Welch, speaking on behalf of the Hunters Rights Coalition, said it’s ludicrous to think hunters will wipe out Wisconsin’s wolves. Hunters want wolves around because they’re a trophy species, he said.
“Hunters are going to become the strongest advocates for wolves,” Welch said. “That’s how it’s worked with every other species.”


Gov. Scott Walker signed a bill earlier this year that calls for a wolf hunt from Oct. 15 through the end of February. The legislation set out almost all the hunt’s parameters, including permit fees and allowing hunters to hunt at night and use bait and traps. The measure left the total harvest and permit limits to the DNR, however.



The agency released an emergency rule package earlier this month that set the total kill quota at 201 across six management zones, establish higher sub-quotas in areas that have seen more depredation and limit permits to 2,010. Bill Vander Zouwen, chief of the DNR’s wildlife ecology section, told the board the agency is trying to find a balance between hunters and wolf lovers, but warned the first season will be touch-and-go.


“This whole first season will be a time for us to learn and adapt,” he said.

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