Science-based Wolf Management

Please oppose SB665/AB687, the wolf population bill

I am writing to you to ask you to oppose SB665/AB687, which would require a new numerical population goal for wolves to be part of the DNR Wolf Management Plan. This bill seeks to undercut our state’s wildlife experts and the DNR’s authority to manage our natural resources. The DNR has put a lot of effort into a long-overdue update to the wolf management plan. The final plan has a science-based approach and involved many groups, including the tribes of Wisconsin, public outreach, and much discussion. The plan outlines an adaptive approach to managing the wolf population, consistent with other species such as Black Bear and White-Tailed Deer, and has been used by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for years without concern. This bill seeks to circumvent the multi-year analysis, stakeholder engagement, scientific research, and public comment processes that the DNR has undertaken to create the new plan. Additionally, this legislation is not representative of the Tribal views of wolves in our state. The Voigt Intertribal Task Force shared a position from an intertribal ceded territory, supporting the DNR’s draft Wolf Management Plan’s goal of ensuring a sustainable wolf population that fulfills its ecological role. “The adoption of a non-numeric population goal for wolves, rather than an arbitrary limit to their population, is more consistent with the tribes’ relationship with Ma’iingan.” Our neighboring states, Minnesota and Michigan, with whom we share the responsibility of guarding the natural balance of the regional Great Lakes ecosystem, also do not define a wolf population by number or require one by law. Please oppose this bill and allow the DNR to do its job in recommending policy for wolf management in our state, rather than have it be dictated by legislators or special interests. Thank you for your time, and I look forward to hearing back from you about this bill.