State Hunter Groups Join Pursuit to Delist Gray Wolves
Wisconsin Ag Connection
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are starting to hear from another sector over the idea of delisting the gray wolf in Wisconsin and the Western Great Lakes region: hunters. This week, member groups of the Wisconsin Hunters Rights Coalition have submitted formal comments to the agency regarding the proposed rule to delist the wolf from the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife. Their comments were submitted in partnership with the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation.
The coaltion–which is made up of the Safari Club International, Wisconsin Bear Hunters Association and Wisconsin Firearm Owners, Ranges, Clubs, and Educators Inc.–says every statistic indicates that the gray wolf population has recovered. FWS cited statistics from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, which estimates a population of between 690 and 733 wolves in Wisconsin. The overwinter count for 2011 pins the wolf population at 782-824 wolves. The state originally wanted to see at least 350 wolves when the delisting first took place in 1992.
Earlier this year, it appeared that the federal government was ready to delist the wolf. But animal rights groups fought the proposal saying there are now two different species of wolves that have to be considered. Carl Schoettel of the Wisconsin Bear Hunters doesn’t buy that.
“The argument that there are now two different species of wolves simply does not add up, and we applaud the Wisconsin DNR for explaining this in detail in their formal comments on the rule,” Schoettel said. “There may be genetic material from two wolf species in the Western Great Lakes region, but there are not 2 distinct species of wolves living separately in the area.”
Agricultural groups have been crying foul as 47 farms have now experienced attacks resulting in at least 75 livestock animals lost and six more injured.
Last week, State DNR Secretary Cathy Stepp sent a letter to the USFWS slamming efforts to delay the delisting process because of a new species of wolf that was discovered in the region. She says the western Great Lakes wolf population is of mixed genetics and should be treated as one population.