State studies hunt of formerly endangered wolves

State studies hunt of formerly endangered wolves

Rebounding population may need to be controlled

By LEE BERGQUIST and PAUL A. SMITH

Platteville – Wisconsin officials are laying the groundwork for the first public hunting of wolves in more than 50 years.Wolf Hunt

The hunt may never happen, but plans and study are under way that could serve as the framework for a season in two or three years, the state’s top wolf biologist said Wednesday.

The state Department of Natural Resources has had the option of a wolf hunt in its management plan since 1999. But the possibility of a season is closer to reality as wolf numbers have grown and livestock producers and hunting groups have pushed for controls.

Last winter’s population estimate was 537 to 564 wolves, more than the recovery goal of 350, according to Adrian Wydeven of the DNR. The population was about the same during the winter of 2007, he said.

By comparison, wolves totaled less than 250 in 2000.

A wolf season would require approval from the Natural Resources Board, which sets policy for the DNR, and from the Legislature. But the measure would likely prompt a lawsuit from wolf advocates.

Last year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed Upper Midwestern wolves from the endangered species list after concluding that the population had risen sufficiently in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan. The delisting is being challenged in federal court by the Humane Society of America.

Neither Minnesota nor Michigan has a hunting season for wolves. Minnesota decided on a five-year moratorium after wolves were removed from the endangered list.

Wydeven detailed the DNR’s latest data Wednesday at the monthly meeting of the Natural Resources Board.

He said the agency will meet with various organizations, including the Wisconsin Conservation Congress, livestock owners and environmental groups.

The congress voted this spring in favor of a hunting season for wolves. The citizen group, by law, advises the DNR on outdoors issues.

Lost livestock

Gary Schenck of Fort Atkinson, a member of the congress’ wolf committee, said there are parts of the state where the high wolf population is resulting in a serious loss of livestock.

Last year, 30 farms reported losses of livestock or pets from wolves – an all-time high, according to the DNR. All told, 30 cattle, 13 dogs, six sheep and one horse were killed last year by wolves.

So far this year, 26 cattle, 13 dogs and one sheep have been killed by wolves, the DNR said.

Since 1985, the DNR has made payments totaling $653,138 to livestock and pet owners who have lost animals to wolves. Last year, the agency paid out $68,908, DNR figures show.

Schenck said any hunting season would likely need to start slowly to harvest the prescribed number of wolves.

“This would be a new hunt, and we have no recent history of hunter success rates,” Schenck said.

Natural Resources Board members were shown a projection that, if hunting were allowed, 29 to 41 wolves could be harvested by hunters in a season, not enough to damage the population.

The analysis was presented by University of Wisconsin-Madison wildlife biologist Tim Van Deelen, whose work was based on a computer model.

Bob Welch, who represents the Wisconsin Hunters Rights Coalition, said his group supports the DNR’s management plan.

“We envision that the future will include some kind of harvest,” Welch said. “It just makes sense.”

Targeting problem wolves

Wydeven said a season may not be necessary if wolf packs that prey on livestock are targeted. The federal government uses personnel to kill problem wolves, and the DNR now grants landowners shooting permits in areas with confirmed depredation of livestock. In 2007, 92 wolves died from various means, including 37 euthanized by government personnel; 28 killed in vehicle collisions; and three killed by landowners protecting livestock or pets.

Wisconsin’s last open season on wolves took place in 1956. Wolves returned to Wisconsin from Minnesota in the mid-’70s.

Three Western states were planning to hold public wolf hunts this fall until a federal judge in Montana restored endangered species protections for gray wolves in the Northern Rockies.

U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy in July granted a preliminary injunction restoring the protections for the wolves in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho. Molloy eventually will decide whether the injunction should be permanent.

The region has an estimated 2,000 gray wolves. They were removed from the endangered species list in March, following a decade-long restoration effort.

Environmentalists sued to overturn the decision, arguing wolf numbers would plummet if hunting were allowed.

By The Numbers