Voters favor wolf control measures
By: Emily Kram, Superior Telegram
Wisconsinites may be divided on politics and policy right now, but on at least one issue they seem to have reached agreement.
At the 2011 Department of Natural Resources Spring Rule Hearings last week, questions about controlling the gray wolf population drew overwhelming support statewide. Of the roughly 5,500 people who participated in the spring hearings, fewer than a fifth objected to any of the gray wolf control measures, and not one county voted against them.
Multiple items about gray wolves were included in the hearing questionnaire. One asked whether voters would support continuing the wolf population goal of 350 or less in Wisconsin, and another asked if they’d support implementing measures to meet that goal.
The gray wolf population in Wisconsin is currently estimated to be near 700, but the state cannot reduce numbers because the animal is federally protected.
Voters supported the 350 population goal by a 5-to-1 ratio and the proposal to implement population controls the by more than 7-to-1.
The greatest support among voters came for a question about removing the gray wolf from the Endangered Species List. Votes tallied more than 8-to-1 in support of the idea.
Efforts are underway to delist the gray wolf in the western Great Lakes region, with federal officials announcing last week that they would push to remove the animal from endangered status in the region. Previous attempts by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to strip the gray wolf of federal protection in Wisconsin have been overturned in the courts.
Statewide, voters also showed strong support for a proposal to restrict baiting for 10 days before and during the nine-day deer firearm season, but they voted against proposed changes to the duck hunting zones and season dates.
Douglas County voters strayed from the state consensus a few times, most notably on the issue of changing the wild turkey hunting season structure.
Douglas County was one of only 14 counties rejecting an idea to extend the spring turkey hunting periods by two days; 58 counties supported the change.
Kevin Feind, a long-time turkey hunter in Douglas County, said he was firmly against extending the hunting periods. He, along with another active hunter from the Solon Springs area, spoke out against the change at the April 11 meeting.
“I’m not happy about this proposed change,” Feind said. “This was introduced by someone who didn’t feel five days were enough, without thinking of the other hunters out there that will be affected.”
Currently, the spring turkey hunting season is divided into six periods, running from early April into May. Between each period is a two-day break before hunting resumes for the next period.
Eliminating that break, Feind said, would negatively impact the quality of the hunting experience.
“By giving the birds two days off, they calm down from being chased for five days, and it gives the next batch of hunters a better chance, or more of a quality hunt,” Feind said. “This also gives the next group of hunters a couple days to go scouting without fearing that they are scaring birds away for hunters that are actually out hunting at the time.”
Douglas County voted 12-8 against the proposed change. Statewide, voters favored the idea by a 3-to-2 ratio.
Feind said he also submitted a proposal at the meeting on behalf of the local National Wild Turkey Federation chapter to close the fall turkey season in Zone 6, north of Highway 77.
“We have seen a dramatic decrease in our turkey population in the last two years and feel this will help,” Feind said. “Registration records show that the number of hens being harvested in the fall is on the increase up here, and that also has a dramatic effect on population.”
Feind said the percentage of turkeys registered that are hens has increased from 50 percent in 2008 to 60 percent in the 2010 fall hunt.
Douglas County voters also disagreed with the state majority on establishing firearm and muzzleloader-only deer hunting seasons at Copper Falls State Park. La Crosse and Menominee counties were the only others in the state to vote no. Ashland County, where the state park is located, voted 38-15 in support of the idea.
Voters in Douglas County also came out strongly against a proposal to allow hunters on public lands to discharge a firearm within 100 yards of an occupied building without first gaining permission from the owner or occupant of the building.
Douglas County rejected the proposal 12-6, but statewide the vote was practically even, with only a three percent difference between those for the change and those against it. Looking at results by county, 40 approved the idea, 29 rejected it and 3 ended in a tie vote.