State board approves quota for October wolf harvest
Journal Sentinel files
A plan to harvest as many as 201 wolves during hunting and trapping season was approved.
Stevens Point
- The Wisconsin Natural Resources Board on Tuesday unanimously approved
a plan to harvest as many as 201 wolves in a hunting and trapping
season scheduled to begin in October.
The plan, advanced in an emergency rule by the Department of Natural Resources, is intended to exert higher harvest pressure in marginal or poor wolf habitat and less in the core wolf ranges in the central and northern forest.
A crowd of 120 people overflowed the meeting room at the Holiday Inn and Conference Center.
Forty-three people testified; most asked for a reduced quota. In addition to the seven board members, DNR Secretary Cathy Stepp and Land Division Administrator Kurt Thiede were in attendance.
DNR wildlife manager Bill Vander Zouwen said the agency's goal is to reduce the wolf population but retain a "viable, sustainable population."
The DNR estimated the wolf population at 815 to 880 animals in late winter. The wolf was removed from protections of the federal Endangered Species Act and returned to state management in January.
The board was able to vote only on the DNR proposal for wolf quotas, zones and a limited number of specific hunting and trapping rules.
The Legislature and Gov. Scott Walker established most aspects of the hunting and trapping season through Act 169, signed in April.
Act 169 specifies a harvest season from Oct. 15 to the end of February, allows the use of dogs to hunt wolves, allows night hunting and the use of bait.
The law makes Wisconsin the only state to allow the use of dogs to hunt wolves.
Under the plan approved Tuesday, the DNR will accept wolf permit applications in August and hold a drawing and make licenses available in September.
The agency plans to issue 10 times as many wolf licenses as the final kill quota.
As established by the Legislature, applications will cost $10 and licenses will be $100 for state residents.
Testimony presented Tuesday morning was indicative of the range of opinions on the iconic species.
The plan outlines the first regulated wolf harvest in state history. The wolf had been subject to bounties and killed by any means possible in Wisconsin, including poison, for much of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Vander Zouwen acknowledged uncertainties over the proposal, including the number of hunters and trappers likely to seek licenses and the percentage likely to kill a wolf.
"This first season is a time for us to learn and adapt," Vander Zouwen said. "But we think what we have in place is conservative, especially since we have the ability to enact emergency closures in zones if the quota is reached."
Hunters and trappers will be required to report kills to the DNR within 24 hours.
But Tom Givnish, University of Wisconsin professor of botany, said the proposed kill rate was "too high and biologically unjustified."
"Hundreds of people have worked over dozens of years to see the gray wolf recover," said Givnish, who advocated for large wolf refuges with no hunting. "This is not the time to install an aggressive hunting policy that may endanger that recovery."
Givnish said he was troubled by many aspects of Act 169, including hunting wolves at night, with baits and with dogs.
"It will stain the reputation of hunting in Wisconsin and the DNR through the foreseeable future," Givnish said.
Several hunting and conservation groups - including the Wisconsin Hunter's Rights Coalition, Wisconsin Conservation Congress and Wisconsin Wildlife Federation - testified that the proposed quota of 201 wolves is too low.
Ralph Fritsch, representing the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation, said the quota is "ultra conservative" and will lead to "an insufficient harvest of wolves in Wisconsin."
The state has paid $214,794 for wolf depredation in 2012, according to DNR records. Thirty-nine wolves have been killed in Wisconsin in 2012 at known depredation sites.
Tim Van Deelen, associate professor of wildlife ecology at the University of Wisconsin, testified that the state "should define success in wolf management in terms of our ability to address depredation problems rather than in terms of a goal number that is difficult to justify."
Van Deelen said the two imperatives of wolf management should be population stability for the wolves and relief for livestock owners who are experiencing depredations.
American Indian tribes in Wisconsin are opposed to wolf harvest.
Joe Rose of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa told part of the tribe's creation story, in which wolf and man are blood brothers.
"We believe what happens to the wolf, happens to humans," Rose said.
In recognition of the tribes' views, the DNR established zero wolf quotas on American Indian reservations in the state.
The board turned down a request by Mike Wiggins, chairman of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, for an extra 6-mile wolf protection zone around the reservation's boundary.
"I'm concerned about the private landowners around the tribal land," said board member Preston Cole. "Without hearing from them, I don't think we can support an extra buffer."
James Zorn, executive director of the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission, said the tribes believe the plan goes too far.
"The tribes see this as not just a right to take, but to preserve wolves," Zorn said. "The tribes have the right to maintain wolves as part of a living, dynamic landscape."
Zorn said he found it ironic that the state isn't following the path it recommended after the Voigt decision in the 1990s. The decision affirmed off-reservation hunting and fishing rights.
"Then, the state said 'go slow, we don't have enough information about how tribal harvests will impact the resource,' " Zorn said. "And now out of the chute the state is going for what we believe is too high of harvest."
Although the board approved the quota of 201 wolves, the number of licenses offered may be substantially less.
The tribes are legally entitled to declare up to 50% of the wolf quota in the ceded territory. The tribes could declare their entire quota but not kill a wolf.
Zorn said the tribes have not made any decisions regarding their declarations and are reviewing their options.
The possibility remains for a lawsuit to stop the wolf hunting and trapping season.
Robert Habush of the Habush Habush and Rottier Law Firm was in the audience. Habush didn't testify but said he was an "interested observer."
source
The plan, advanced in an emergency rule by the Department of Natural Resources, is intended to exert higher harvest pressure in marginal or poor wolf habitat and less in the core wolf ranges in the central and northern forest.
A crowd of 120 people overflowed the meeting room at the Holiday Inn and Conference Center.
Forty-three people testified; most asked for a reduced quota. In addition to the seven board members, DNR Secretary Cathy Stepp and Land Division Administrator Kurt Thiede were in attendance.
DNR wildlife manager Bill Vander Zouwen said the agency's goal is to reduce the wolf population but retain a "viable, sustainable population."
The DNR estimated the wolf population at 815 to 880 animals in late winter. The wolf was removed from protections of the federal Endangered Species Act and returned to state management in January.
The board was able to vote only on the DNR proposal for wolf quotas, zones and a limited number of specific hunting and trapping rules.
The Legislature and Gov. Scott Walker established most aspects of the hunting and trapping season through Act 169, signed in April.
Act 169 specifies a harvest season from Oct. 15 to the end of February, allows the use of dogs to hunt wolves, allows night hunting and the use of bait.
The law makes Wisconsin the only state to allow the use of dogs to hunt wolves.
Under the plan approved Tuesday, the DNR will accept wolf permit applications in August and hold a drawing and make licenses available in September.
The agency plans to issue 10 times as many wolf licenses as the final kill quota.
As established by the Legislature, applications will cost $10 and licenses will be $100 for state residents.
Testimony presented Tuesday morning was indicative of the range of opinions on the iconic species.
The plan outlines the first regulated wolf harvest in state history. The wolf had been subject to bounties and killed by any means possible in Wisconsin, including poison, for much of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Vander Zouwen acknowledged uncertainties over the proposal, including the number of hunters and trappers likely to seek licenses and the percentage likely to kill a wolf.
"This first season is a time for us to learn and adapt," Vander Zouwen said. "But we think what we have in place is conservative, especially since we have the ability to enact emergency closures in zones if the quota is reached."
Hunters and trappers will be required to report kills to the DNR within 24 hours.
But Tom Givnish, University of Wisconsin professor of botany, said the proposed kill rate was "too high and biologically unjustified."
"Hundreds of people have worked over dozens of years to see the gray wolf recover," said Givnish, who advocated for large wolf refuges with no hunting. "This is not the time to install an aggressive hunting policy that may endanger that recovery."
Givnish said he was troubled by many aspects of Act 169, including hunting wolves at night, with baits and with dogs.
"It will stain the reputation of hunting in Wisconsin and the DNR through the foreseeable future," Givnish said.
Several hunting and conservation groups - including the Wisconsin Hunter's Rights Coalition, Wisconsin Conservation Congress and Wisconsin Wildlife Federation - testified that the proposed quota of 201 wolves is too low.
Ralph Fritsch, representing the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation, said the quota is "ultra conservative" and will lead to "an insufficient harvest of wolves in Wisconsin."
The state has paid $214,794 for wolf depredation in 2012, according to DNR records. Thirty-nine wolves have been killed in Wisconsin in 2012 at known depredation sites.
Tim Van Deelen, associate professor of wildlife ecology at the University of Wisconsin, testified that the state "should define success in wolf management in terms of our ability to address depredation problems rather than in terms of a goal number that is difficult to justify."
Van Deelen said the two imperatives of wolf management should be population stability for the wolves and relief for livestock owners who are experiencing depredations.
American Indian tribes in Wisconsin are opposed to wolf harvest.
Joe Rose of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa told part of the tribe's creation story, in which wolf and man are blood brothers.
"We believe what happens to the wolf, happens to humans," Rose said.
In recognition of the tribes' views, the DNR established zero wolf quotas on American Indian reservations in the state.
The board turned down a request by Mike Wiggins, chairman of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, for an extra 6-mile wolf protection zone around the reservation's boundary.
"I'm concerned about the private landowners around the tribal land," said board member Preston Cole. "Without hearing from them, I don't think we can support an extra buffer."
James Zorn, executive director of the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission, said the tribes believe the plan goes too far.
"The tribes see this as not just a right to take, but to preserve wolves," Zorn said. "The tribes have the right to maintain wolves as part of a living, dynamic landscape."
Zorn said he found it ironic that the state isn't following the path it recommended after the Voigt decision in the 1990s. The decision affirmed off-reservation hunting and fishing rights.
"Then, the state said 'go slow, we don't have enough information about how tribal harvests will impact the resource,' " Zorn said. "And now out of the chute the state is going for what we believe is too high of harvest."
Although the board approved the quota of 201 wolves, the number of licenses offered may be substantially less.
The tribes are legally entitled to declare up to 50% of the wolf quota in the ceded territory. The tribes could declare their entire quota but not kill a wolf.
Zorn said the tribes have not made any decisions regarding their declarations and are reviewing their options.
The possibility remains for a lawsuit to stop the wolf hunting and trapping season.
Robert Habush of the Habush Habush and Rottier Law Firm was in the audience. Habush didn't testify but said he was an "interested observer."
source
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