Wisconsin mulls wolf hunt
John Myers, Duluth News Tribune
Thousands of Wisconsin residents will take a poll Monday night asking if they support a public hunting or trapping season for wolves for the first time since the animals recovered from extinction.
The results are non-binding, and the Legislature would have to act to allow a hunt. But question No. 71 at Monday’s annual Conservation Congress and spring fish and wildlife rules meeting could be a bellwether of what’s to come for wolves in Wisconsin.
After a century of bounties, poisoning, trapping and shooting at will, wolves were extirpated from Wisconsin by the 1960s. Wolves gained federal protections in the 1970s, and within a few years, a few wolves from Minnesota moved into the Badger state.
Since then, their number and range has expanded, and almost 600 wolves now roam across the northern half of the Wisconsin.
In 2006, wolves in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan were removed form the federal endangered species list, and their management now rests in the hands of each state’s natural resource agencies and tribal governments.
The current population is well above the minimum level set in Wisconsin’s wolf management plan of 350 wolves. So some groups — namely livestock farmers and hunters — say it’s time for limited hunting and trapping of wolves.
Because the annual Conservation Congress meetings are generally dominated by hunters and anglers, it’s likely the question may see support for a public wolf harvest.
But others say the spring meetings won’t be a good measure of Wisconsin’s overall feeling on wolves, and some experts say there is still strong sentiment against killing wolves, for years the poster child of endangered species, for sport.
Adrian Wydeven, wolf biologist for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, said the DNR has not taken a formal stand on a public harvest. But he said the agency would rather wait and let other wolf control measures work.
The state currently is using federal trappers to capture and kill wolves near where livestock and dogs have been killed. In addition, it’s generally legal for people to shoot wolves seen attacking pets or livestock. In southern Wisconsin, wolves can be shot on sight.
“We want to try other controls for a while yet before we jump to a public harvest,’’ Wydeven said. “Public harvest is a potential tool for us at some point. There’s nothing that prevents us legally from doing it in the future. … But it’s bound to be controversial, especially this close to delisting’’ from federal protection.
OTHER STATES
In Wyoming, with fewer than half the wolves Wisconsin has, wolves now are considered predators across almost 90 percent of the state. Under state law they can be killed at any time by anyone. Near Yellowstone Park in the state’s northwest corner, wolves now are a trophy animal and hunting license is required. Wolves of course remain protected in national parks.
Lawsuits have been filed, however, to prevent Rocky Mountain wolves from being shot.
In Minnesota, with about 3,000 wolves, by far the most of any state outside Alaska, state officials are following a wolf management plan that calls for a 5-year buffer between federal protection and any public hunting or trapping.
In 2011, the DNR commissioner can decide whether public hunting or trapping should be allowed, said Mike DonCarlos, wildlife and research program manager for the Minnesota DNR.
RESIDENTS LIKE WOLVES
A 2006 study by Northland College Prof. Kevin Schanning of 2,900 people in the Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan found 80 percent support wolves. The survey found that support didn’t change much whether people lived in the north or south of each state.
Adrian Treves, assistant professor of environmental studies at UW-Madison, said his 2004 survey of 1,346 Wisconsin residents found a large majority support the wolf’s recovery.
“There’s actually a lot of common ground on wolves in Wisconsin’’ despite the often polarized extremes commonly portrayed, Treves said. “But people generally didn’t want a [hunting season] immediately after delisting. There was very little support for that.’’
Still, Treves said a majority of Wisconsin residents polled also support allowing some public harvest under certain conditions, such as attacks on livestock.
An average of 27 head of livestock have been wounded or killed each year in Wisconsin by wolves over the past 30 years. About 1 percent of all the state’s farms have had any wolf issues, Treves said, and about 60 percent of Wisconsin wolf packs never have preyed on livestock.
“We are a strong pro-hunting state. It’s in our constitution that hunting is a right,’’ Treves said. “Eventually, the pressure will mount for a public harvest. But exactly what and when and how far that gets, I’m not a betting man. I don’t know.’’