Wisconsin’s Green Fire letter to the legislative committee chairs regarding reinstating a Wolf Harvesting Season in 2021

I’m a member of Wisconsin’s Green Fire and support WGF’s policy: WDNR should begin work now to update our Wolf Conservation Plan. In doing so we will re-engage stakeholders including sportsmen and women, conservation groups, tribal leaders, and interested citizens to establish goals and build broad public support for managing wolves and minimizing wolf-human conflicts. Rachel Tilseth

Sent From Wisconsin’s Green Fire

January 12, 2021

To: The Honorable Rob Stafsholt
Chair Senate Committee on Sporting Heritage Wisconsin State Capitol
2 E Main St.
Madison, WI 53703
To: The Honorable Treig Pronschinske
Chair Assembly Committee on Sporting Heritage Wisconsin State Capitol 2 E Main St.
Madison, WI 53703

Re: Senate Joint Informational Hearing on reinstating a Wolf Harvesting Season in 2021

Dear Chair Stafsholt and Chair Pronschinske,
On behalf of Wisconsin’s Green Fire, we congratulate you on your appointment to leading legislative committees on Sporting Heritage and your commitment to protecting Wisconsin’s natural resources and our outdoor traditions for all Wisconsin citizens. Wisconsin’s Green Fire and our members look forward to working with you on hunting, fishing, and conservation issues in Wisconsin.

The recovery of the gray wolf is a conservation success story that we can all be proud of. Wisconsin’s Green Fire supports FWS de-listing of wolves, and we support the resumption of state and tribal management of wolves in Wisconsin. Our challenge however will be to finally get it right this time and avoid the roller coaster of legal battles and on and off listing and de-listing of wolves that have marked the last twenty years in our region.

Already, some national organizations have promised litigation to stop the recent federal de-listing action. These groups have a history of telling the federal courts that the states cannot be trusted to manage our wolf populations responsibly. Wisconsin should take a conservative approach to our new responsibility for managing wolves and not allow ourselves to become a litigation poster child.

The actions we take for wolves today should be science-based and should allow citizens to fully participate in setting goals and establishing a management framework. For those reasons we advocate not attempting what would have to be a rushed process to hold a shortened wolf harvesting season this winter. Rather, WDNR should begin work now to update our Wolf Conservation Plan. In doing so we will re-engage stakeholders including sportsmen and women, conservation groups, tribal leaders, and interested citizens to establish goals and build broad public support for managing wolves and minimizing wolf-human conflicts.

wigreenfire.org
PO Box 1206, Rhinelander, Wisconsin 54501 | 715.203.0384 | Info@wigreenfire.org