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Greetings!
Thank you for reading these important updates about Wisconsin wolves. We appreciate your support as we educate, advocate and participate on behalf of wolves.
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Senate Bill 93 and Assembly Bill 94 banning the use of dogs to hunt wolves have each been introduced and referred to the respective committee. However, there they sit. We need to get the bills through committee and onto the floor to be voted upon and signed into law.
Contact: - Senator Kedzie, Chair of the Senate Committee of Natural Resources,
(608) 266-2635
- Representative Ott, Chair of Committee of Natural Resources and Sporting Heritage, (608) 266-5831 or (888) 534-0003.
Tell them you support legislation that will ban the use of dogs to hunt wolves. Urge them to conduct a public hearing and have the bill move forward in committee.
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Wisconsin Court of Appeals regarding the use of dogs to hunt wolves in Wisconsin. According to an attorney handling the case, Robert Habush,
"Our appeal is necessary because only judicial intervention can protect the public interest from a state agency acting in an arbitrary and capricious manner. Regarding dogs being used to hunt wolves, Wisconsin DNR's rule-making process has been unduly influenced by lobbying- which has led to agency rules that ignore wolf biology, documented dog mortality, and mainstream Wisconsin ethics."
Wisconsin remains the only state in the United States that allows the use of dogs to hunt wolves. The controversial practice, opposed by wolf experts and animal welfare advocates alike, has been met with mounting opposition since the enactment last April of Act 169, the state law authorizing dogs in wolf hunting.
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The Wolf Advisory Committee, created by the DNR, will be responsible for developing harvest quotas, permanent rule recommendations and updates for the Wolf Management Plan. Although we asked to serve on the committee, we were denied, stating the work group needed to be kept at a "manageable size."
In addition to governmental agencies, the committee consists of a representative of the Conservation Congress, Wisconsin Cattleman's Association, Wisconsin Bear Hunters Association, Safari Club International Wisconsin Bowhunters Association, Wisconsin County Forest Association, Wisconsin Trappers Association, and Wisconsin Wildlife Federation.
The "lone wolf" organization to serve on the committee is the Timber Wolf Alliance. We believe this committee should represent a wide range of stakeholder interests, not primarily the hunting community, and it should be representative of the diversity of Wisconsin interests in wolves.
At a recent the meeting, the committee decided to increase the wolf harvest quota to 275. Last year, 117 wolves were killed during the hunting/trapping season. The tribes will not make a declaration until the final harvest quota is approved.
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Wisconsin's wolf hunting regulations allow for night hunting, and the Chippewa tribes have cited it as justification for launching a tribal night deer hunt despite the State's ban on the practice. The State claims the night hunting of deer is unsafe. State attorneys are trying to block the tribal night hunting of deer in federal court.
Governor Walker's budget includes the provision that would ban night wolf hunting. The Joint Finance Committee took no action which means the language remains in the budget. In this case, the political wrangling may just protect the wolf.
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Wolf Study Committee of the Wisconsin Conservation Congress will convene at 9:00 AM on Saturday, June 1, 2013 at Mead Wildlife Area Visitor Center. Various issues regarding the wolf hunt will be discussed on the Agenda.
The next Natural Resource Board Meeting will be held on June 25/26, 2013 in Wausau. Although details have not yet been posted, we can expect the quota for the 2013 wolf hunting season to be decided. To submit written comments, or to register to speak, email or call Laurie J. Ross at (608) 267-7420.
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Show Your Support for Great Lakes Wolves
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 The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service delisted wolves in the Western Great Lakes as of January, 2012, after multiple previous attempts to delist wolves were struck down by the courts over the course of the last decade.
The decision threatens the fragile remnants of the gray wolf population by confining wolves to a small area in the Great Lakes region - where state wildlife managers have rushed forward with reckless programs that threaten wolves with the very same practices that pushed them to the brink of extinction in the first place. Needless to say, we have our work cut out for us! The purchase of Wolfwatcher's Great Lakes t-shirt will help to fund educational programs and advocacy campaigns in the region that promote peaceful coexistence with wolves and demonstrate our opposition to plans that are not based in science and the democratic principles that should guide decision-making.
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Educate, Advocate, Participate
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National Wolfwatcher Coalition is a 501(c)(3)
nonprofit, all volunteer organization
on behalf of
wolf education, conservation and advocacy.
We advocate for the long term recovery of wolves by informing the public about the challenges to their conservation, supporting measures that promote the acceptance of wolves on the landscape, and educating the public about ways it can participate as an effective voice for scientific decision making in their behalf. All donations, no matter the amount, will help us to educate, advocate and participate via:
- educational programs, materials and events
- participation in conferences, seminars, and consultation with other professionals in the field of wolf biology, research, conservation and environmental law.
- Wolfwatcher Legal Fund to address costs related to our potential engagement in litigation that challenges local, state and/or federal policies that affect wolf conservation.
To donate online, please click on the Donate button at the top. To shop on our website, please visit our online store. Proceeds from all purchases go to support our mission.
We appreciate your kind support.
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