Wolves lose federal protection status
Landowners will be allowed to kill animals if they threaten livestock, pets beginning in March
Patti Wenzel
THE-BEE
Im happy Ill be able to defend myself and my cattle if they are in danger, Karen Kerner said after learning that gray wolves were losing their federally protected status.
They just should not be here, she added.
Kerner found a partially eaten calf on her property north of Phillips last June. She added four other calves have gone missing, valued at a minimum of $600 a head.
On Jan. 29 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Department of the Interior announced the delisting of the gray wolf, or timber wolf, in Wisconsin. This action starts a review period of 30 days, after which management of the gray wolf will be turned over to Wisconsin Wolf Management Plan, approved by the Natural Resources Board and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1999.
That management plan would allow land owners to shoot problem wolves for the first time since 1957.
It will also allow land owners to obtain permits to kill a specific number of wolves on their land over a set period of time if a history of predatory actions has been verified.
But, the state plan does not allow for land owners to shoot a wolf if it is simply crossing the property.
Adrian Wydeven, a wolf biologist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) said the new designation for wolves would go into effect sometime in March. He wanted the public to know that until that time, the wolf is still considered endangered and the restrictions on shooting them still apply.
Wydeven said that wolves have done well repopulating the northwoods so the federal protections are no longer needed.
We need a more flexible management system to deal with wolves, he said. And the public may be more accepting of wolves if they know they can remove the problem wolves.
Unregulated shooting and trapping, encouraged by a legislative state bounty, resulted in the disappearance of the wolf in Wisconsin by 1960. Wolves reentered the state on their own from Minnesota in the mid-1970s. After enjoying protected status for the past three decades, the wolf population in Wisconsin has grown to an estimated 500 today. The DNRs target wolf population for the state is 350.
Price County Agriculture and Natural Resources Agent Mark Kopecky wasnt familiar with the details of the delisting, but he said removing the federal protection from gray wolves is a good thing.
Weve had many cases of wolves attacking livestock throughout the county, Kopecky said. This will be a good tool to protect valuable animals.
In addition to Kerners losses, wolves have killed up to 50 chickens at a Spirit-area farm; bear hounds in Hawkins, Ladysmith and Merrill; and most recently a hunting dog in Boulder Junction.
Not in the wilderness anymore
The Wisconsin Cattlemens Association (W CA) is pleased with the decision to delist the gray wolf.
Wolves are not only killing and injuring livestock and other domestic animals at an alarming rate, the very presence of wolves on livestock farms results in a variety of negative impacts to livestock production and to the farm family, both economically and socially, said Eric Koens of the WCA.
The WCA and Wisconsins six Safari Club International Chapters and houndsmen from the Wisconsin Bear Hunters Association are releasing a new 30-second television ad noting the sharp rise in wolf attacks in recent years.
Little Red Riding Hood warned us about wolf, the ad states, and Little Red Riding Hood was right. The ad goes on to cite DNR statistics showing that wolf attacks on livestock have tripled over the last three years. The ad concludes with a view of kids at a playground being closely watched by a wolf.
People used to believe that wolves lived in remote forests, said Bob Welch representing the states Safari Club chapters, but the reality is that the wolf population has exploded to the point where they are now wrecking havoc on cows, sheep, dogs and property.
Kerner agrees with the sentiments in the ad.
(Wolves) should not be here, she said. It is very disturbing that they are on my land, which is not far from town. There are children on my road and its wide open. I fear for my safety.
I dont want to see them exterminated, but they just dont belong here where people are. This isnt the wilderness anymore.
Federal suit?
Karlyn Atkinson Berg, a wolf consultant with the Humane Society of the United State, thinks there are flaws in the federal plan to turn over management of the animals to individual states. She predicted her organization would file a lawsuit to block the move.
Berg said she is not opposed to killing wolves that habitually kill livestock or pets, but she believes property owners have a duty to do more to protect their animals.
Kerner said keeping wolves off open grazing land is next to impossible.
It is very difficult to keep them out, unless you want to build an 8-foot tall chain link fence, she said. But that is expensive and dangerous for the cattle and other animals.
If the delisting stands, the ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar Kotelly last August blocking state DNR sharpshooters from killing wolves would be mute.
Ilma Nelson, the Spirit woman whose family lost 50 chickens last year, was happy to hear it.
I still cant understand how a judge in another part of the country could pass a judgement that can cover the whole country, she said. She doesnt have to live with these wolves everyday.