by Larry Lee
WAUSAU, Wis. (WSAU) — As Wisconsin enters its third day of the wolf hunt, several people are urging counties to take a stand and advise the Department of Natural Resources to manage an even smaller wolf population.
One of them is Michael Lane from Mosinee. Lane supports a resolution that’s been passed by several county boards including Lincoln, Langlade, Vilas, Portage, and Wood counties seeking the DNR to keep the wolf population at or below 350 animals.
Lane spoke to the Marathon County Board of Supervisors Thursday evening, telling them we do have too many wolves locally, and there has been livestock damage and human interaction with wolves. “We’re just starting to feel their presence in Marathon County, in this part of Marathon County. They’ve been in the southern part of the county for probably the last 10 or 15 years, but they’re beginning to drift in from the northern parts of the state.”
Lane says the impact of wolves includes killed dogs and livestock. “Dog damage has been more in the northern part of the state. The livestock (damage) is just starting to get into this part of the county.”
About five wolves were tracked in Nine Mile Forest early in the year, but Lane says there’s probably more there and in another nearby wildlife area. “At least 4 or 5 were in there last year. What there is this year, I don’t know. We won’t know until we’ve got snow on the ground. There’s a lot more in the Mead area.”
In 2013, there were 81 incidents with wolves and domesticated animals, plus 6 threats to human safety. All of these incidents happened in 21 counties in northern Wisconsin.
The Marathon County Board will vote on the proposal Tuesday afternoon. If they pass it, they would become the 23rd county to back the resolution urging DNR officials to manage a smaller wolf population.
So far, only 12 wolves have been taken during the hunt.