Wisconsin wolf harvest regulations debated amid effort to delist wolves

The state Senate’s sporting heritage committee is weighing whether to approve, deny or request changes to wolf harvest regulations developed by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

The Natural Resources Board approved a rule on wolf harvest regulations when it signed off on a new wolf management plan in October 2023. Gov. Tony Evers approved the rule, but Republican lawmakers on the committee last year requested changes that are now being addressed.

The regulations include updates to wolf harvest zone boundaries and issuing tags for specific zones rather than statewide. Hunters would also be required to report wolf kills faster, within 8 hours, instead of by 5 p.m. the next day. The rule also includes protections for wolf dens.

Scott Karel, the DNR’s wildlife regulation policy specialist, told the committee in a public hearing Tuesday that the rule is necessary to prepare for future wolf hunts. If lawmakers reject the rule, Karel said it would take years to develop another rule and leave the agency vulnerable to a lawsuit. He noted wildlife advocacy groups sued to stop the fall wolf hunt in 2021.

“I think we run the risk of, should wolves be delisted, that that court case would be revisited,” Karel said. “It could prohibit a future wolf season if a new rule isn’t on the books.”

In 2021, a Dane County judge halted the fall wolf season due to the lack of a permanent rule and updated plan to manage wolves under state law. In Wisconsin, a 2012 law requires a wolf hunt each year when the animal isn’t listed as a federally endangered species.

Currently, gray wolves are under federal protection across most of the country, but Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany and others have reintroduced a bill to delist the wolf in Congress.

Debate over the wolf harvest regulations rehashed arguments from supporters and opponents of the state’s wolf management plan, which lacks a population goal. Hunters and Republican lawmakers, including the committee’s chair, Republican Sen. Rob Stafsholt, said a goal or range is needed to effectively manage wolves.

“For two decades, we’ve had some target,” Stafsholt said. “We have been far beyond that.”

The last wolf plan approved in 1999 and revised in 2007 set a population goal of 350 wolves. DNR data shows the animal’s population has grown to nearly 1,000 wolves and appears to be stabilizing.

DNR staff said the agency moved away from a numeric goal to provide more flexibility in wolf management. Wisconsin had 98 verified wolf conflicts last year, according to DNR data. Last year, 31 farms reported 63 verified complaints involving livestock, representing a small fraction of the state’s 58,500 farms.

Adrian Wydeven with Wisconsin’s Green Fire said the DNR’s plan is science-based and balances potential wolf conflicts with cultural concerns of Ojibwe tribes, who view the wolf as a brother. A former DNR wolf biologist, Wydeven added that scientists have a better understanding of wolves since the first wolf management plan set a goal of 350 wolves.

“What we’re finding is that wolves are more adaptable and able to live in landscapes that we earlier on didn’t suspect they were going to be able to live in,” Wydeven said.

Wydeven added that he appreciated the DNR’s inclusion of buffer zones around reservations under the rule. However, Lucas Withrow with the Wisconsin Bear Hunters Association opposed them.

“We cannot support these buffer zones as they limit hunting access and provide havens for depredating wolves,” Withrow said.

Withrow said the group opposes the updated wolf harvest regulations because the timeline for reporting kills was “unnecessarily short,” and he said zone-specific tags limited opportunities for hunters.

Shell Lake resident Dana Herman supported the rule, adding that the DNR’s plan aims to maintain the population between 800 and 1,200 wolves.

“There are numbers,” Herman said. “Adaptive management just lets you be more flexible with those numbers.”

Chris Vaughan, Wisconsin state director for Kansas-based Hunter Nation, urged the committee to adopt a population goal. Vaughan said the lack of a numeric goal, wolf advisory committee and a current estimate of the wolf population puts the state in a poor position to hold a wolf hunt if the animal is delisted.

Hunter Nation sued the state in February 2021 to force a wolf hunt after the Trump administration removed federal protections for wolves. During the season, hunters killed 218 wolves in less than three days, exceeding their share of a 200-wolf quota split with the state’s Ojibwe tribes.

The updated regulations would also allow farmers who own livestock to receive more reimbursement for animals killed by wolves under the rule. It would also ensure dog training occurs during the wolf season, whereas training to track wolves was previously allowed year-round when the animals weren’t under federal protection.

Melissa Smith, executive director of the Great Lakes Wildlife Alliance, said there was no legal hound training prior to 2021. She said the DNR’s rule falls short of addressing concerns from the February 2021 wolf hunt.

“I think not a lot of thought has gone into what these rules mean when there was no accountability for what happened in 2021,” Smith said.

The committee did not vote on the rule, but it will likely hold an executive session to determine the fate of the regulations in the coming weeks.