Wolf comeback triggers call for control
Plan would allow government trappers to manage population
By Peter Rebhahn
Bear hunter and dog lover Dick Baudhuin doesnýt mind if wolves share the Marinette County woods where he trains his hounds.
But count Baudhuin among the number who believe itýs time to begin managing wolf numbers by means once unthinkable.
ýThe only management tool we have for wolves is hunting and trapping,ý Baudhuin said. ýThe responsibility should be in the hands of the individual states.ý
Today, shooting or trapping a wolf is a crime, because the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lists wolves in the Midwest as a threatened species.
Fish and Wildlife lowered the wolfýs status in Wisconsin from endangered to threatened in 2003 and last July announced the start of a process to remove wolves from the threatened list.
That change would allow states to manage wolf populations.
ýWhether we have a public harvest or use government trappers, I think at this point the state probably would be the best place for wolves to be managed,ý said Adrian Wydeven, mammalian ecologist for the state Department of Natural Resources and the stateýs top expert on wolves.
Baudhuin, who sits on the board of directors of the Wisconsin Bear Hunters Association, has never had a run-in with a wolf while training his hunting dogs.
But friends of his have, including one who lost two dogs in wolf attacks in the Chequamegon National Forest in Ashland County in August that killed a total of seven dogs.
The state reimburses owners up to $2,500 for hunting dogs killed by wolves ý not enough to replace a quality dog, said Baudhuin, who currently has 16 hounds and a litter of seven puppies.
ýMy opinion is heýll have to start at $5,000 and go up to find what heýs looking for,ý Baudhuin said of his Ashland County friend.
Wisconsinýs draft management plan calls for government trappers to control the wolf population once the speciesý threatened status is removed and numbers reach 350 animals outside Native American reservations.
Early this year, the DNR counted 373 to 410 wolves living in 108 distinct packs in Wisconsin, and Wydeven said at least 361 animals are known to be living outside reservations.
Baudhuin thinks the stateýs estimate of wolf numbers is low. But everyone agrees that wolves are showing up in some unlikely places.
ýIt does appear theyýre expanding their range,ý said Tom Hansen, Green Bay-based warden supervisor for the DNRýs Northeast Region.
Hansen said last May a wolf ý an immature male ý was run over near the village of Denmark in Brown County.
The Denmark wolf was only the latest to stray from the northern forests that are the wolfýs habitat.
Two wolves have shown up in populated areas in Outagamie County in recent months, and a couple of wolves have been shot in Door County in recent years, Hansen said.
Unverified sightings of wolves near Austin Straubel International Airport in Ashwaubenon and near Manitowoc in recent years may well be true, too, he said.
ýItýs animals dispersing out of northern Wisconsin and the U.P., and theyýre trying to find a new home and running into some awkward areas,ý Wydeven said.
The stateýs draft management plan doesnýt specifically call for a hunting and trapping season but leaves the door open to those activities providing they receive the blessing of the State Legislature.
Wydeven called a public harvest ý hunting and trapping ý a ýsuitable toolý for managing the stateýs growing wolf population.
ýBut we want to have a thorough public process to get to that point,ý he said.
The stateýs draft management plan would let landowners apply for a permit to shoot ýnuisanceý wolves.
Landowners wouldnýt need a permit to shoot wolves caught attacking pets or livestock.
The lethal-force provision in the stateýs draft management plan may someday become useful to Baudhuin, whose hounds run in the Athelstane area of Marinette County.
ýItýs just a matter of time before they squeeze into that area because theyýre expanding,ý Baudhuin said.
Wolf comment
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources will accept public comment through Friday on a proposed plan to manage the state’s wolves. Residents can comment online by answering a questionnaire at dnr.wi.gov/org/land/er/forms/wolfsurvey.asp. To learn more about wolves in Wisconsin, visit www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/land/er/mammals/wolf.