MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Senate on Oct. 17 passed a Republican-backed bill that would force state wildlife managers to set a specific numerical target for the state’s wolf population.
The proposal, which will soon go to the Assembly, comes after the state Department of Natural Resources did not set tough limits on the state’s wolf population in a fresh management plan, but said it should be about 1,000.
The state has been operating under a wolf management plan since 1999 that limits the state’s population to 350 animals. The fresh plan calls for the DNR to work with advisory committees to monitor local populations and decide whether to reduce them, maintain them or allow them to grow.
Wildlife officials told lawmakers last month that the lack of a tough limit gives the DNR more flexibility in managing the species, allows for fluctuations in local wolf packs and increases the chance that the population will maintain wolf numbers in coming years.
Some hunting advocates support setting a population limit, arguing that the lack of a target leaves both wolves and humans unprotected.
Wolf population levels are one of the most contentious outdoor issues Wisconsin has faced in the past 30 years. Farmers in northern Wisconsin have complained each year about wolf attacks on their livestock as the species has regained a foothold in the state. Hunters are willing to kill them. Animal rights activists say the population is too brittle to sustain hunting.
Wisconsin law requires the DNR to hold annual wolf hunts. Gray wolves are currently listed as a federal endangered species, making hunting illegal. The DNR is working to update its management plan in case wolves are removed from the list and hunting resumes in the state.
Establishing a specific population goal will show the state has consistency in its wolf management plan and will lead to the gray wolf being delisted, said the bill’s lead sponsor, Republican Sen. Rob Stafsholt.
But Democratic opponent Sen. Mark Spreitzer said the bill would send the wrong message by politicizing an issue he said should be left to the DNR to resolve.
The Senate passed the proposal by a vote of 22-9.
(Story by Scott Bauer/Associated Press)
