Reporter: Alex Ronallo
FOND DU LAC – A wolf hunt is scheduled in Wisconsin for this October, but the regulatory details have yet to be hammered out.
The DNR still hearing from people before adopting the regulations. One such session was in Fond du Lac Thursday evening.
Wolves have been on the endangered species list in Wisconsin for decades, since the species was nearly wiped out by the mid-1900’s, but now, that’s changed. In April, Wisconsin passed a law establishing a wolf hunt set for this fall.
“They did leave open the details on how many wolves, can be removed and where they can be removed and how many permits to give to hunters and trapped,” Bill Vanderzouwen with the DNR.
The DNR has some proposed regulations for the hunt: like a suggested total harvest of 143 to 233 wolves between October 15th to the end of February. The hunting will also take place in varied zones throughout the state with quotas based on population. But the agency is asking the public for input before finalizing details.
Some at the Fond du Lac meeting are excited for the hunt, saying wolves have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage by killing other animals.
“Their hunting dogs and their pets and those that have farms have been impacted by the wolves,” said George Meyer with the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation.
Some who are against the hunt worry this will undo years of work to bring the population back.
“They eradicated the wolves over most of the United States and now we’ve reintroduced them and now we’re going back. It doesn’t make sense,” said Dolores Mick.
Still would-be wolf hunters say a harvest is necessary to control what they say is an overgrown population.
“Right now the population is, you know, three times over what the goal is for the wolf population and a wolf harvest can help bring the population back down to our goal,” said Meyer.
The other side is nervous though, and hopes the DNR puts a lot of protections for the wolves in the regulations.
“I heard this is gonna be a long season and that I don’t like, I’m afraid they’re gonna shoot to many of them, then we’ll be back to square one,” said Mick.
The Natuaral Resources Board meets July 17th to finalize regulations.
If you still want to voice your opinion on the wolf hunt, you can fill out a survey on the D-N-R’s website. We have a link to that survey in the News Links section of our website.