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MADISON, Wisconsin (AP) – Officials with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources on Monday dramatically reduced the number of wolf hunters that can kill during the state’s fall season, in open disregard of its board of directors.
The move marked another clash between the liberal-leaning administration of the DNR and the conservative-leaning council, and it came after animal welfare advocates filed a lawsuit in state and federal courts for block the hunt. The season is scheduled to begin on November 6.
The DNR’s decision left board member Greg Kazmierski stunned. He said state law makes it clear that the council runs and oversees the department.
“They are not free to do this,” Kazmierski said. “They got rogue, that’s what they did.”
Department biologists initially recommended setting the quota at 130 wolves, saying they were unsure what effects the state’s unprecedented spring hunting was having on the wolf population. Political advice increased the limit to 300 animals in August, sparking outrage from environmentalists and wolf advocates.
The DNR announced in a press release on Monday that it was unilaterally reducing the quota to 130 animals. Under treaties made in the 1800s, the state’s Chippewa tribes can claim up to half of the quota, but the Chippewa consider wolves sacred and will not hunt them. The DNR said the tribes claimed 56 animals, leaving 74 to state-licensed hunters.
MNR spokeswoman Sarah Hoye said the department has a responsibility for scientifically managing wildlife, pointing to agency regulations that grant the department that authority. The 130 wolf quota will protect the wolf population as a whole, she said.
Public relations officials at the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission, which represents 11 Chippewa tribes in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
Wolf hunting has become one of the most controversial wildlife management issues that Wisconsin has faced in decades. State law requires the DNR to organize a hunt between November and February whenever the animal is not on the federal endangered species list.
Environmentalists have argued for years that the global population is too fragile to hunt. The latest DNR population estimates, compiled during the winter of 2019-2020, put the number of wolves in the state at around 1,000. The state’s management plan calls for 350 wolves in the landscape, although MRN officials dispute that it is a population objective.
The Trump administration took the final steps to remove Great Lakes wolves from the endangered species list in January. The DNR was gearing up for a November season, but the Hunter Nation hunter advocacy group won a court order forcing the department to hold a hunt in February. The group argued that the Biden administration could put wolves back on the endangered species list at any time, depriving hunters of their season.
The DNR rushed the framework for the season, setting a quota of state licensed hunters at 119 wolves. The Hunters crossed the line, killing 218 wolves in just four days and forcing an untimely end to the season.
Wildlife advocates grew angry – the Chippewa called the season a massacre – and called on the DNR to cancel the fall season. Department biologists said they did not know what effects the February hunt, organized during the breeding season, might have had on the entire wolf population. They said the number 130 would protect the entire population.
But board conservatives wanted to raise the limit, beating around numbers as high as 500, before settling on 300 at a meeting in August. This would translate to 150 wolves for state licensed hunters assuming the Chippewa claim 50%.
The move prompted a coalition of wildlife groups to file a lawsuit in Dane County Circuit Court in August to stop the hunt. The Chippewa filed a similar lawsuit in federal court in Madison last month. A hearing on a preliminary injunction in the case is set for October 29.
Paul Collins, Wisconsin state director of Animal Wellness Action, one of the groups that filed a lawsuit in state court, released a statement saying the new DNR quota was still not not good enough.
“The courts should stop all further wolf killings this year and restore federal protections for wolves,” he said.
Meanwhile, the board and the DNR are in the midst of a nasty power struggle. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ administration runs the department, but those appointed by former Republican Gov. Scott Walker currently control the panel.
Evers saw an opening to regain control of the board in May when Chairman Fred Prehn’s term expired. The governor has appointed Sandy Naas to replace Prehn, a move that would give those appointed by Evers a majority on the board.
But Prehn refused to resign, arguing he didn’t have to go anywhere until the state Senate confirmed Naas. Republicans control the chamber and have taken no action to confirm it, ensuring that those nominated by Walker maintain their majority.
MNR officials told Prehn last month that they had nothing to present to the board at its September meeting and that no one from the ministry would attend. Prehn canceled the meeting, accusing ministry officials of playing political games.
Prehn said the board was trying to manage wolves up to the number 350 in the management plan and was frustrated with the ministry acting unilaterally. He said he didn’t know if his refusal to quit had anything to do with reducing the quota. He said he had not spoken to anyone at the ministry since the August meeting.
“(The board) has always set the quota,” said Prehn. “There is no communication (with the ministry). This is not the way to do business. It’s crazy.”
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