Wolf quota could see legal action
When the Natural Resources Board voted Wednesday to set a statewide kill quota of 300 for the fall 2021 Wisconsin gray wolf hunting and trapping season – overruling a lower recommendation by the Department of Natural Resources – it immediately drew criticism from tribal officials and many conservation and environmental groups.
The Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission called the quota “reckless” and Wisconsin’s Green Fire said it would “risk long-term damage to the viability” of the state’s wolf population.
And yet the board didn’t satisfy some hunting groups, either, which sought even higher numbers.
Beyond the immediate reactions, don’t be surprised if the board’s vote spurs legal action to prevent the wolf season prior to its scheduled start Nov. 6.
At the heart of the issue are wide disagreements over the value of wolves and how the species should be managed or stewarded in Wisconsin.
Many state residents also continue to misunderstand or deliberately misstate the goal of the existing Wisconsin wolf management plan, written in 1999 and only slightly appended in 2007.
Three hundred and fifty wolves is not the population target of the plan, DNR officials reiterated on Wednesday, but a threshold above which actions such as depredation control and hunting could be considered.
A majority of the board has unfortunately either disregarded or been unable to comprehend the DNR’s statements on the plan.
It’s led to a deepening dysfunction surrounding Wisconsin wolf issues.
According to the DNR’s latest wolf population estimate, the state had 1,136 wolves in early February, 5% less than the previous winter.
But the wolf population was reduced Feb. 26-28 by at least 218, or 20%, during a court-mandated wolf hunting and trapping season.
Thirty-eight wolves have also been killed in depredation activities this year in Wisconsin. And an unknown number – often estimated to be 10% of the population annually – have likely died due to poaching and other illegal kills.
The department had set the 130 quota to meet the agency’s objective of “no change” in the wolf population for the fall hunting and trapping season until a new plan is finalized, possibly next year.
Paul Collins, Wisconsin state director for Animal Wellness Action and Center for a Humane Economy, said the DNR’s recommendation of a 130 quota was bad enough but the board’s vote to increase it to 300 was appalling and likely to be challenged in court.
“The actions of the (board) and in particular the openly anti-wolf members are unfortunately opening up the state of Wisconsin to further litigation and only reinforcing our view that this state is incapable of scientifically or ethically managing this species,” Collins said Wednesday following the meeting. “They only have themselves to blame if and when a return to federal protections occurs.”
Ojibwe tribes, who consider the wolf a brother and abhor sport killing of the animal, are likely to use their legal right to declare 50% of the harvest and therefore protect a certain number of wolves in the Ceded Territory, essentially the northern two-thirds of Wisconsin.
“The DNR Natural Resources Board made clear that its decision to set the wolf quota at 300 has nothing to do with science or stewardship,” said Michael Isham, executive director of the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission. “This reckless approach to ma’iingan (wolf) management is why tribes have filed a brief in support of lawsuits that seek the restoration of federal protection for wolves.”
The conservation organization Wisconsin’s Green Fire said the quota of 300 would likely trigger a review of Wisconsin’s wolf management by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and support arguments for re-listing wolves under the federal Endangered Species Act.
On the other side are some hunting and conservation organizations which on Wednesday pushed the board for even higher quotas.
The Wisconsin Conservation Congress and the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation, for example, both recommended a quota of 300 for state-licensed hunters and trappers.
And Luke Hilgemann of Marshfield, president and CEO of Kansas-based hunter advocacy group Hunter Nation, recommended a quota of at least 420.
Hilgemann also pledged legal action if the DNR attempts to reduce the quota through “administrative action” prior to the season.
The tension over wolf management has spiked this year in Wisconsin since the gray wolf was removed in early January from protections of the Endangered Species Act.
State law requires the DNR to hold a hunting and trapping season running from early November to the end of February if the wolf is not on the endangered or threatened species list.
The DNR sought to hold a wolf season in November, but a lawsuit, filed by the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty on behalf of Hunter Nation, forced one in late February.
The rushed season resulted in 218 wolves registered over about three days, 83% above the state-licensed quota.
The timing of the season occurred during the wolf breeding period and also prevented the DNR from performing a post-hunt wolf population estimate.
The uncertainties over wolf reproduction this year and the statewide population were noted by the DNR as it defended its recommendation of 130.
But four NRB members – Bill Bruins, Terry Hilgenberg, Greg Kazmierski and Fred Prehn – side with those who want to substantially reduce wolf numbers in the state.
The NRB is the seven-member citizen board that sets policy for the DNR.
On Wednesday, Kazmierski proposed quotas of 504 and 350; both failed. But Hilgenberg’s motion of 300 was approved by a 5-2 vote (Sharon Adams, Bruins, Hilgenberg, Kazmierski and Prehn were in favor, Bill Smith and Marcy West were opposed).
(On Friday Adams sent out a press release saying she didn’t intend to support the motion; see below.)
The quota available to state-licensed hunters and trappers will be finalized in coming weeks and months after Ojibwe declarations and possible additional action by the DNR and NRB.
In its documents supporting a quota of 130, the DNR said it “will be taking further administrative action to assess whether the quota approved by the Board should be adjusted to account for the results of the February 2021 hunt, which included the overharvest of 99 wolves, to ensure a level of harvest for the November 2021 season that is consistent with the long-term sustainability of the wolf population.”
Some board members and other observers did not overlook the statement. The motion approved by the board Wednesday includes a provision that it will have final say on the quota at a future meeting.
The DNR plans to conduct a license drawing in September or October.
Of course the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service could step in and restore federal protections for the wolf before then.
The odds of that occurring seem increasingly high.
But after the board’s vote Wednesday, it appears the one thing you can bank on is more wolf-related legal action this year in Wisconsin.
Adams explains vote on wolf quota:
On Friday, (Aug. 13) NRB member Sharon Adams of Milwaukee released the following statement about her vote at last week’s board meeting in favor of a 300 wolf kill quota for the fall Wisconsin wolf hunting and trapping season.
“Following a very lengthy discussion at the recent board meeting involving the November wolf hunting season, there were a series of amendments and motions offered. During that discussion, I voted for what at the time I believed was a substitute amendment and turned out to be a final motion. I want to make it clear that I did not intend to vote for, nor do I support, a quota of 300 wolves for the upcoming November hunting season. I offer this statement today only for the purpose of clarifying the record.”
As inferred in her statement, Adams’ vote was final and can’t be changed.
Wolf management plan meeting:
The DNR will hold the second of four planned Wolf Management Plan Committee meetings from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday (Aug. 19).
The meeting will be held virtually; the public is invited to attend and observe the proceedings on the DNR’s YouTube page but no public comments will be taken.
The committee has been formed to discuss issues related to wolf management in Wisconsin and to provide input as the department updates the state’s wolf management plan. The current version was written in 1999 and appended in 2007. The agency has set a goal of finalizing the new plan in 2022.