SUGAR CAMP – “People in Wisconsin are passionate about wildlife, and wolves certainly fall under that,” said DNR Large Carnivore Specialist David MacFarland.
The Wisconsin Wolf Facts group hosted a wolf summit on Saturday.
More than 50 people gathered in Sugar Camp for the event.
Speakers touched on the status of wolves in Wisconsin, and how they can be managed properly.
One major topic of discussion was if states should have control of that management.
“It’s like any population, there needs to be some control measures, we have none now,” said Sen. Tom Tiffany (R – Hazelhurst).
Currently Gray Wolves are protected under the Endangered Species Act. That limits what states can do to control the wolf population.
“There’s tremendous momentum to get the delisting to happen, I mean, it’s a bipartisan issue now,” said Tifffany.
What’s more, DNR workers say that’s especially true in the north.
“What we found in the study was that the people that are affected by wolves, the rural residents of Northern Wisconsin, deer hunters, farmers, are very concerned. They don’t want more wolves they want less,” said DNR Wolf Committee Member Mike Brust.
Brust says there is a different perspective of the issue between the northern and southern parts of the state.
“Those that are affected have a lot involved with their livelihood, whereas people in the south they just are interested in the fact that it’s nice that we have wolves up north, but they don’t have to deal with them,” said Brust.
MacFarland says the most important people to hear from are the citizens.
“Hearing from people on what direction they’d like the state to go, and how they’d like the species to be managed,” said MacFarland.
There will be a Midwest Wolf Stewards Conference April 18th and 19th in Houghton, Michigan. Contact Dean Beyer at 906-227-1627 for more information.