DNR board signs off on revised boundaries for managing deer

The Wisconsin Natural Resources Board unanimously passed regulations to allow deer management to be based on habitat rather than county lines in the forests of central and northern Wisconsin.

After about two hours of discussion Wednesday, the policymaking board for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources approved both emergency and permanent rules for revised deer management unit boundaries. The regulations are still subject to approval by Gov. Tony Evers and the Legislature.

County deer advisory councils, or CDACs, currently recommend harvest quotas and the number of antlerless permits or doe tags to issue each year to meet population goals for their deer herds. The permanent rule renames them as citizen deer advisory councils to allow future changes that align them with new units that may fall under their oversight.

DNR Deer Program Specialist Jeff Pritzl said northern counties like Bayfield County have struggled to manage deer due to varying habitat and deer numbers throughout the county.

“We’ve had some people depart their councils in protest, that until we go back to a habitat-based unit system, we’re not able to accomplish our objectives,” Pritzl said. “So we’re trying to meet that strong message that we’ve been hearing for half a dozen years.”

The changes will affect boundaries for northern and central forest zones, as well as metropolitan sub-units or more developed areas of the state. Currently, deer management units largely mirror county lines following recommendations made by Texas-based researcher James Kroll in his 2012 deer trustee report.

The revised boundaries were backed by hunters, the Wisconsin Conservation Congress and northern Wisconsin Republican Rep. Chanz Green.

Deer numbers have been declining across northern Wisconsin

Last year, Green was among lawmakers who introduced a bill that would have temporarily banned hunting does up north in an effort to grow the deer herd. Gov. Evers vetoed the proposal.

While Green supports the changes, he voiced concern about the speed with which they would be implemented, adding there’s distrust of the Bayfield County CDAC’s ability to manage deer.

“I would like to see this vetted and properly gone through the channels and everybody get a chance to see it and learn about it, understand it better, so they can either support it or voice their opinion about it either way,” Green said.

Dick Wolkowski of Baraboo said he’s noticed a decline in the deer herd after hunting for 56 years in the northern Wisconsin town of Drummond. Wolkowski said the county-based system for managing deer doesn’t work for northern Wisconsin, and it needs to change.

“Hunting has gone downhill. Northern Wisconsin is different than the southern part of the state. We have large holdings of public forested land, very limited, continuous agricultural land,” Wolkowksi said. “We have severe winters…and we have significant predator pressure.”

Greg Kazmierksi, a former Natural Resources Board member, opposed the changes and accused DNR staff of working against the county-based system since it was established in 2014. Kazmierski said people want to see more deer on public lands, saying that could be accomplished by eliminating doe tags on public lands to grow the herd.

He said revising deer management unit boundaries won’t help that growth.

“It’s going to make it worse,” Kazmierski said.

Natural Resources Board Chair Bill Smith said he didn’t see the changes as a threat to the system initiated by the deer trustee report, but rather a tweak to improve deer management in northern Wisconsin.

Supporters of changes urged DNR to slow review

The DNR said public input from roughly 150 people who attended open houses supported the rule along with 78 percent of 120 written comments submitted.

However, others said there’s no reason for the emergency rule, saying revised boundaries should be further reviewed by the public, CDACs and Conservation Congress.

Rob Bohmann, chair of the Conservation Congress, said its committee overseeing CDACs supports the changes. Even so, he said the revised boundaries have changed in recent months.

“Our citizens haven’t had an opportunity to weigh in on these changes that are made,” Bohmann said. “We’re working off of information that was brought in from over roughly 200 people. Last time I checked, there’s over half a million people that hunt deer in the state of Wisconsin.”

Smith said it’s necessary to have the boundaries in place before local councils decide how to align with new units to conduct deer management. The DNR’s Pritzl said it’s ready to work with the Conservation Congress and CDACs to make that transition.

Another public hearing will be held on the emergency rule within the coming months. CDACs will meet this spring to begin setting quotas for the 2025 deer season.