Is there hope? Can all sides work together to find solutions?

Everyone has thier hands in it, and everyone has thier side; wolf recovery in Wisconsin has become a battleground. Has it always been this way? Yes, from my experience, it’s been them against them, fighting over how to manage the state’s gray wolf population. This is par for the course, with many stakeholders in wolf recovery all having thier agendas.

The beginning.

Wolf recovery began in the late 1970s, officially due to an individual who worked to find out if Gray wolves were crossing the border from Minnesota to Douglas County, Wisconsin. Dick Thiel spent many weekends snowshoeing throughout Douglas County, searching for signs of gray wolves establishing territories in Wisconsin. Thiel found that evidence and approached the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to establish Gray wolf recovery in Wisconsin.  This all came about in 1978 when the gray wolf was classified as an endangered species throughout the contiguous United States and Mexico, except for gray wolves in Minnesota, which were classified as threatened.

Indigenous Perspectives.

According to Marvin DeFoe, an elder with the Red Cliff Ojibwe Tribe of the Great Lakes, gray wolves are native predators that have roamed throughout Wisconsin for thousands of years. So, what caused them to become extinct in Wisconsin?

Pioneers change the landscape.

Western settlers occupied the mining area and cultivated the fertile regions in southern Wisconsin along the lake shore, in the valleys of the Mississippi and the St. Croix and their principal tributaries. They built their mills in the rich pineries of the north, erected their homes and churches, and settled in the present State of Wisconsin. This expansion throughout the state impacted natural resources such as Gray wolves, Woodland Bison, Elk, and Antelope.

Native wildlife disappear.

These native animals became extinct in Wisconsin due to trophy hunting. How did that happen? As the lumbering industry declined, Wisconsin needed new industries, and thus, they advertised thier abundance of wild game. As a result, native Ungulates, Elk, Bison, and Antelope were hunted into extinction in Wisconsin. Soon, the Gray wolf would follow due to losing thier prey. As a result, Gray wolves turned to the settler’s livestock, and a bounty was placed on thier heads. Gray wolves, a native predator, disappeared from Wisconsin.

Gray wolves and indigenous people were pushed off the land.

This was a great loss for indigenous people who were also being pushed off thier land because of western settlements. These indigenous peoples have lived alongside Gray wolves for centuries and are a part of thier creation story.

Stakeholder’s rights.

When discussing wolf politics in Wisconsin, it always turns to the opinions of farmers, livestock owners, the extractive industry, the lumbering industry, hunting groups, and the pro-wolf groups, and thier agendas always take top priority. Proving more often than not how the Annishanabe’s views are ignored.

A deep connection was ignored.

But Gray wolves and Annishanabe people are deeply connected and have been for centuries. The 2021 February wolf hunt proves this. Thier treaty rights were ignored. For centuries, the Ojibwe have lived alongside their brother Ma’iingan, who we know in English to be the wolf. In February 2021, a Brutal assault, a hunt on their wolf relative, stirs emotion and grief for Ma’iingan as they know what happens to him will happen to them.

People & Wolves Official Trailer

Today, in Wisconsin, an estimated 1,000 gray wolves are protected under the Endangered Species Act.

Wolf recovery is in jeopardy.

Many stakeholders in wolf recovery, all having an agenda, have been fighting against each other over how to manage the state’s gray wolf population. Several stakeholders demand a population goal of 350 wolves. If they get thier way, that means 650 Gray wolves would be culled from the current population. Why are these stakeholders bent on a numeric population goal?

Myths fuel ignorance.

Fear is the driving force behind the agendas of many of Wisconsin’s wolf stakeholders.

Education can be the cure.

Many stakeholders mistakenly believe the wolf is killing off the white-tailed deer, depredating all the livestock, and is a threat to people. The facts prove otherwise, and those who believe otherwise fuel the news cycles with propaganda. Check the facts for yourself on the Wolf Depredation Reports on the 2024 DNR website. That amount of wolf depredation is minuscule compared to the number of farms in Wisconsin, which had 58,521 farms in 2022 census data. Source.

Can stakeholders find a compromise?

State wildlife agencies like the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources manage gray wolves. After the disastrous court-ordered February 2021 wolf hunt, which exceeded the quota, taking all of the Tribe’s allotted quota in three days, the WDNR began updating the 1999 wolf management plan. From 2021 to 2023, the Wisconsin DNR updated our state’s Wolf Management Plan, and the final version of the Wisconsin Wolf Management Plan was unanimously approved by the Natural Resources Board on October 25, 2023.

During the plan update process, the DNR collected extensive public input through a wolf management plan committee, an online questionnaire and a 111-day opportunity to review and comment on a draft of the management plan. Throughout the process, the DNR also worked closely with our tribal partners and other natural resource professionals involved in wolf management in Wisconsin.” Wolf Management Plan

A wide range of wolf stakeholders were chosen to sit on the Wolf Management Committee. These stakeholders comprised educational groups, farming and livestock groups, wolf advocacy groups, and pro-wolf hunt groups. All of these meetings were available for the public to view through the state website. Eventually, the WDNR came up with a plan, and it was approved.

The contentious numeric population goal was removed.

The new plan was considered adaptive. This approach considers many factors, such as the health of Gray wolves, carrying capacity on the land, social carrying capacity (people & wolves), and wolf education. Most of the tribes approved of the plan but remained against wolf hunts. The NRB approved the plan with minor amendments. A recording of the October 2023 NRB Meeting is available on the DNR’s YouTube channel.

 

Most Wisconsinites weighed in positively for the Wolf Management Plan, with the exception of a few hunting, agriculture, and one wolf advocacy group. The Great Lakes Wildlife Alliance, a pro-wolf group, is suing to null and void the plan due to what they believe was favoritism. They acknowledge in the suit that this violates Wisconsin’s open meeting rules; a judge is set to give an oral ruling on the suit on May 6, 2024. The other exception was that the conservative legislature pushed for the WDNR to add a numeric goal to the wolf population and even sent a bill to the governor’s office, which the governor vetoed.

Wolves are killing off all the White-tailed deer.

The latest in wolf politics comes from what I call fringe hunting groups. It’s the same old story that has been going on for years. This debate has occurred even before wolf recovery began. Not all hunters agree with these fringe hunting groups. White-tailed deer hunting has a long, rich history in the state.

Watch the Video from Deer Hunt Wisconsin 2023 | Dan Small Productions

 

Because of this rich history, there has always been a debate regarding how many deer, the health of the deer, and how to solve these problems.

Indigenous people’s perception of hunting.

I discussed hunting with John Johnson Sr., a member of the Lac de Flambeau Ojibwe Tribe of the Great Lakes. He described a way to cache the remains after dressing the deer or elk to share them with the other forest beings. He told me they bury the entrails and cover them with leaves and sticks for the forest’s wild beings to share. There is a partnership between wild beings and the Ojibwe.  This connection is shared with thier brother Ma’iingan.

During filming an interview for People & Wolves, I learned an important lesson on how the Ojibwe view hunting.

“There’s one thing I use when I talk about the power of the language when I just mention the language contains some of the teachings, and there’s one word in our language, which is nitagai (not the correct spelling), and it means to kill something for food like going out and hunting a deer. But that same word also means to grieve for the loss of a loved one, to mourn for the death of a loved one. That little word means both of those things.” People & Wolves interview with Michael Waasegiizhig Price.

Ethical hunters have the same views on taking the life of wild animals. But where it goes wrong is when hunters hunt for novelty or revenge. Then there are the illegal killings referred to as poaching. Recently, as in December 2023, this could be the case in the killing of an old wolf. This case has not been resolved. I was so taken aback by this incident that I made a short film about the Matriarch of the Echo Valley pack who was killed.

The Killing of Wolf 813

At approximately 02:00 am on December 25, 2023, a retired DNR Conservation Warden and pro-wolf hunt advocate shot a wolf at his door. Ron Nordin, Jr., a Wildlife Technician for Red Cliff Tribe, got the news from the DNR after the holiday break that Wolf 813, a collard wolf he had been monitoring for over ten years, was killed. Ron and his wife Misty tell the story of the wolf they knew as Wolf 813, Matriarch of the Echo Valley Pack, and how her life and death impacted them as members of the Red Cliff Ojibwe Tribe.

Watch the short film.

Where do Wisconsinites go from here regarding wolf recovery?

I believe there can be hope. That can only occur when both sides open communication and work together to find solutions. I think the new wolf management plan is a start to solving deep-rooted issues driven by fear and anger.

The plan is not perfect because it must comply with state laws. Act 169, enacted in 2011, mandates that the DNR hold a wolf hunt when Wisconsin’s gray wolf is not in the ESA. This law is the problem. It led to the disastrous February 2021 wolf hunt. The DNR was forced to hold a hunt because of a lawsuit by a conservative hunting group. The hunters went over the quota in three days’ time and took all of the Tribe’s quotas.

Removing that law is the solution.

 

 

Sources: THE MOVEMENT OF AMERICAN SETTLERS INTO WISCONSIN AND MINNESOTA