GOP legislators ready bill calling for wolf population goal
1 year, 9 months ago

GOP legislators ready bill calling for wolf population goal

Associated Press  

MADISON, Wis. — A pair of Republican legislators circulated a bill Friday that would require Wisconsin wildlife officials to establish a new population goal for wolves in the state in their next management plan. Rob Stafsholt, of New Richmond, began circulating a bill for co-sponsorship on Friday that would require the DNR to include a statewide population goal in its new plan. Stafsholt said in a telephone interview that it was a “complete shock” to farmers and hunters that the draft plan doesn’t include a statewide population goal. This bill simply says we have to have a population goal to know which direction we should be managing the population.” Stafsholt rejected the notion that the bill is designed to give hunters an argument for higher quotas, saying the DNR has always imposed tight limits on how many wolves hunters can kill each season.

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History of this topic

Animal welfare advocates file lawsuit challenging Wisconsin’s new wolf management plan
1 year, 1 month ago

Animal welfare advocates file lawsuit challenging Wisconsin’s new wolf management plan

Associated Press  

MADISON, Wis. — Animal welfare advocates filed a lawsuit Wednesday seeking to invalidate Wisconsin’s new wolf management plan, accusing state wildlife officials of violating the state’s open meetings law and disregarding comments from wolf researchers and supporters. The lawsuit alleges that Department of Natural Resources policy board members collected comments on the plan from interest groups it favored even after …

A board leader calls the new Wisconsin wolf plan key to removing federal protections for the animal
1 year, 2 months ago

A board leader calls the new Wisconsin wolf plan key to removing federal protections for the animal

Associated Press  

MADISON, Wis. — The leader of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources policy board signaled support Wednesday for the department’s contentious new wolf management plan even though the document lacks a hard population cap that hunters and farmers have demanded. Board Chairperson Bill Smith said during a meeting in Manitowish Waters that the plan shows the state is committed to …

Wisconsin DNR defends lack of population goal in wolf management plan
1 year, 3 months ago

Wisconsin DNR defends lack of population goal in wolf management plan

Associated Press  

MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin wildlife officials defended their decision not to set a hard cap on the state’s wolf population in their new management plan in front of a Republican-controlled legislative committee Thursday, saying a firm limit doesn’t reflect the complexities of wolf management. Randy Johnson, the Department of Natural Resources’ large carnivore specialist, told the state Senate’s sporting heritage …

Wisconsin officials add recommendations to new management plan to keep wolf population around 1,000
1 year, 4 months ago

Wisconsin officials add recommendations to new management plan to keep wolf population around 1,000

Associated Press  

MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin wildlife officials released a revised draft wolf management plan Tuesday that recommends holding the statewide population at around 1,000 animals, a concession to conservatives looking for a hard limit. The Department of Natural Resources adopted a wolf management plan in 1999 that calls for capping the statewide population at 350 wolves. The proposal didn’t include a …

Wisconsin officials add recommendations to new management plan to keep wolf population around 1,000
1 year, 4 months ago

Wisconsin officials add recommendations to new management plan to keep wolf population around 1,000

The Independent  

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DNR chief vows to bring wolf plan up for vote in October
1 year, 8 months ago

DNR chief vows to bring wolf plan up for vote in October

Associated Press  

MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources’ policy board will get a finalized wolf management plan in October, the agency’s leader said Wednesday. The DNR in November released a draft of its first new wolf management plan in almost 25 years. The draft erases the current 350-animal population goal, recommending instead that the department work with local advisory …

Wisconsin DNR releases 3,500 public comments on wolf plan
1 year, 8 months ago

Wisconsin DNR releases 3,500 public comments on wolf plan

Associated Press  

MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin wildlife officials on Friday released thousands of public comments on a new wolf management plan, some calling for the restoration of a statewide population limit and others urging a total hunting ban. “Establishing a population objective would provide DNR with a specific goal to point to as it makes decisions like setting annual harvest quotas and …

Conservation groups sue over Montana wolf harvest rules
2 years, 1 month ago

Conservation groups sue over Montana wolf harvest rules

Associated Press  

— Two conservation groups have filed a lawsuit against the state of Montana and its wildlife management agency alleging it illegally set hunting and trapping policies and quotas intended to reduce the gray wolf population by making it easier to kill the predators. Montana’s Republican-controlled Legislature in 2021 passed bills that allowed the state to reduce the wolf population, authorize …

DNR: February 2021 hunt had little effect on wolf population
2 years, 2 months ago

DNR: February 2021 hunt had little effect on wolf population

Associated Press  

MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin wildlife officials estimate Wisconsin’s wolf population currently stands at about 970 animals, demonstrating that a much-maligned February 2021 hunting season had little impact on the population as a whole. Wisconsin Public Radio reported that Department of Natural Resources officials released their latest population estimates at the agency’s board meeting on Wednesday. Conservationists feared that a February …

DNR: No release date for new wolf management plan
2 years, 5 months ago

DNR: No release date for new wolf management plan

Associated Press  

MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin wildlife officials say they don’t know when they’ll release their new wolf management plan after initially saying the document would come out this spring. The Department of Natural Resources’ current wolf management plan dates back to 1999 and calls for capping the statewide population at 350 animals. The department has yet to put out anything and …

Minnesota releases updated draft gray wolf management plan
2 years, 6 months ago

Minnesota releases updated draft gray wolf management plan

Associated Press  

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota’s population of gray wolves is resilient and robust, wildlife managers said Thursday as they released a draft updated plan to keep it that way. “Wolf conservation is a high priority for the DNR and we expect this updated plan to help ensure Minnesota’s wolf population remains healthy,” Kelly Straka, the agency’s wildlife section manager, said …

A fight over wolves pits facts against feelings in Wisconsin
2 years, 6 months ago

A fight over wolves pits facts against feelings in Wisconsin

Salon  

Maybe it was the heat that afternoon in Madison, or maybe it was sheer exhaustion as the meeting approached its sixth hour. Then, this past February, a federal judge ruled that the Fish and Wildlife Service has not followed the "best available science" in delisting wolves, restoring federal protections to all wolves outside of the Northern Rockies. "They're taking a …

Wisconsin DNR defies board, reduces fall wolf quota
3 years, 2 months ago

Wisconsin DNR defies board, reduces fall wolf quota

Associated Press  

MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources officials on Monday dramatically scaled back the number of wolves hunters can kill during the state’s fall season in open defiance of its policy board. The move marked another clash between the DNR’s liberal-leaning administration and the conservative-leaning board, and it came after animal welfare advocates sued in state and federal court …

US: Wolves may need protections after states expand hunting
3 years, 3 months ago

US: Wolves may need protections after states expand hunting

Associated Press  

— The Biden administration said Wednesday that federal protections may need to be restored for gray wolves in the western U.S. after Republican-backed state laws made it much easier to kill the predators. It marks an abrupt turnaround for the federal wildlife agency and brought a swift pushback from Montana’s Republican governor, who said officials in Washington shouldn’t be “second …

Biden backs end to wolf protections but hunting worries grow
3 years, 4 months ago

Biden backs end to wolf protections but hunting worries grow

Associated Press  

FARIBAULT, Minn. — President Joe Biden’s administration is sticking by the decision under former President Donald Trump to lift protections for gray wolves across most of the U.S. But wolf management policies in place at the state level have shifted dramatically since protections were lifted, and Frazer suggested the federal government could take steps to restore protections if population declines …

EXPLAINER: What’s ahead for the Wisconsin wolf hunt
3 years, 4 months ago

EXPLAINER: What’s ahead for the Wisconsin wolf hunt

Associated Press  

MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin wildlife officials will allow state-licensed hunters to kill scores of wolves this fall despite conservationists’ plea s to end wolf hunting completely, after a spring season that saw hunters blow past their quota by almost 100 animals. But hunters killed at least 218 wolves in February, during the breeding season, raising questions about where the population …

Wisconsin sets 300-wolf limit after runaway spring hunt
3 years, 4 months ago

Wisconsin sets 300-wolf limit after runaway spring hunt

Associated Press  

MADISON, Wis. — Wildlife officials in Wisconsin set a 300-animal limit Wednesday for the state’s fall wolf hunt, exceeding biologists’ recommendations as they study the impact of a rushed spring season that saw hunters take almost twice as many wolves as allotted. State Department of Natural Resources scientists asked its policy board to cap kills at 130 animals, saying board …

Wildlife officials propose 130-wolf limit for fall hunt
3 years, 4 months ago

Wildlife officials propose 130-wolf limit for fall hunt

Associated Press  

MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin wildlife officials are proposing limiting the number of wolves hunters can kill this fall to 130 animals, saying they want to take a conservative approach because the impact of a rushed February hunt on the population remains unclear. The DNR was preparing to hold a hunt beginning in November 2021 but a hunter advocacy group won …

Minnesota DNR: No wolf season until 2022 at soonest
3 years, 5 months ago

Minnesota DNR: No wolf season until 2022 at soonest

Associated Press  

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources said Wednesday it won’t consider holding a wolf hunting or trapping season until 2022 at the earliest. “We will use our updated plan as we determine whether and how to use various management tools to ensure continuation of a healthy and sustainable wolf population in Minnesota,” the statement said. “Consideration …

Wisconsin hunters exceed wolf target by nearly 100 animals
3 years, 9 months ago

Wisconsin hunters exceed wolf target by nearly 100 animals

Associated Press  

MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin hunters and trappers killed nearly double the number of wolves that the state allotted for a weeklong season, and they did it so quickly that officials ended the hunt after less than three days, according to figures released Thursday. “This week’s hunt proves that now, more than ever, gray wolves need federal protections restored to protect …

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