Brief introduction about the Wolves of Douglas County Wisconsin Media was founded in 2011 in response to the delisting of Wisconsin’s Gray wolf which set off several wolf hunts. The conservative-controlled legislature under Governor Scott Walker quickly set in place legislation that required wolf hunts when they were not on the Endangered Species List, and this law allowed the use of dogs to track and trail wolves in the hunts. Rachel Tilseth, a DNR volunteer wolf tracker, established Wolves of Douglas County Wisconsin, to stop the use of dogs in the wolf hunts and trophy hunts of wolves, as well as using the press, Wisconsin Public Radio, to bring awareness to the plight of newly delisted Wisconsin gray wolves. She worked to find evidence of dogs fighting wolves during the hunts and to hold WDNR accountable.
Rachel Tilseth: Brutal wolf hounding starts — only in Wisconsin
Dec 2, 2013
Dear Editor: Wolves of Douglas County Wisconsin wants to remind people that starting Dec. 2, Wisconsin will allow the cruel and inhumane practice of “wolf hounding.”
Wisconsin is the only state in the nation that allows packs of GPS-tagged dogs to run down wolves and kill them. In a June poll taken in our state, by the Humane Society of the United States, 85 percent of Wisconsinites did not want hounding to take place.
We want Wisconsinites to know what will happen when packs of dogs are unleashed on wolves. It is not a fair fight. The “hounders” are allowed to outfit their dogs with homemade collars, which are fitted with nails and shards of steel, which will lacerate the mouths of the wolves once wolves try to fight back.
WODCW is working with Sen. Fred Risser to remove the dogs from the wolf hunt. However, Sen. Neal Kedzie has stalled Risser’s Senate Bill 93 bill in committee, despite volumes of emails and calls to Kedzie’s office. We ask you to call and email your opposition to wolf hounding in order to end this bloodletting.
There has never been a more important time for the people of Wisconsin to show they are not going to give in to a small group of people who want to torture animals for fun under the guise of “sport.”
Is this what Wisconsin citizens want to be known for? Source: https://captimes.com/news/opinion/mailbag/rachel-tilseth-brutal-wolf-hounding-starts-only-in-wisconsin/article_113b56b7-a032-5de9-9988-f1390b14f64f.html
DNR Introduces New Plan For Evaluating Possible Dog-Wolf Interactions
Plan Involves Asking Hunters To Let Wildlife Specialists Watch Them Skin Wolf Carcasses
By Chuck Quirmbach
September 25, 2014
The voluntary plan does not sit well with wolf advocate Rachel Tilseth of Wolves of Douglas County, Wisconsin.
“They’re derelict of duty,” said Tilseth. “There’s been no attempt by the DNR to hold these wolf hunters accountable, and I’m appalled. It’s exactly like they’re just asking the fox to guard the hen house.” Source: https://www.wpr.org/animals/dnr-introduces-new-plan-evaluating-possible-dog-wolf-interactions
More news interviews:
https://www.wpr.org/animals/dnr-finds-no-evidence-fights-between-hunting-dogs-wolves
https://www.wpr.org/agriculture/farm-animals/wildlife-groups-push-relist-gray-wolves-threatened
https://www.wpr.org/animals/farmers-livestock-owners-frustrated-restoration-wolves-protected-status
Wolf advocates have also expressed concerns over holding the harvest in the middle of the animal’s breeding season. Rachel Tilseth, wolf tracker and founder of Wolves of Douglas County Wisconsin, fears holding a hunt now will only lead to negative outcomes for both hunters and wolves.
“They’re very territorial. So now you throw dogs into that — what’s going to happen there? It’s going to be a bloodbath,” said Tilseth. “There’s going to be a lot of fighting. Also, how is that going to affect the population if the females are pregnant right now? That’s going to have an impact on the health of the population.” Source: https://www.wpr.org/animals/natural-resources-board-sets-harvest-200-wolves
Wolf advocates remain opposed to placing the wolf back under state management. Blogger Rachel Tilseth, founder of the website Wolves of Douglas County Wisconsin, said they have little faith in the state.
“Because apparently management of wolves means a wolf hunt,” Tilseth said. “For them, that’s the only way that they feel they can manage them is through the hunting and trapping and barbaric use of dogs.” Source: https://www.wpr.org/agriculture/congressman-duffy-pushes-delist-gray-wolf-endangered-species-list
Mar 6, 2024 The Wolf Connection Podcast
Rachel Tilseth has been a volunteer winter wolf tracker for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources since 2000. Rachel has also worked with the Wisconsin Wolf Recovery Program since 1998. She is an author for the Wolves of Douglas County News website as well as an artist, educator, and environmentalist.
Bold Journey Magazine Interview
February 19, 2025
Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Rachel Tilseth. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation; we’ve shared it below.
Rachel, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
My resilience comes from being a single mother, raising three children in the 1980s, and obtaining a Bachelor of Science in Art Education. I learned that love for my children gave me the strength to accomplish many things. I felt like the mother wolf tenaciously protecting her family while learning how the world had come about through gaining an education. A higher education gave me a perspective on the history that shaped our worldview, the arts that express humanity, and the natural world that sustains us. Through all of this, and because of being resilient, I overcame challenging times through the tools that a higher education gave me. Most of all, I learned how small I was in the scheme of things. It all had been done before I came along, and I needed to work to make it a better place here and now. I became an environmentalist working to protect the wolf, one of Earth’s most misunderstood and persecuted animals.
As my children grew and left the nest, I took those lessons in resiliency to shape my activism. As an artist, writer & filmmaker, I faced more challenges; the medium I chose to express my environmentalism was film. Producing a film meant I had to wear many hats; being resilient helped me fit those many roles. For example, I had to fundraise. As the funds came in, I had to budget those funds to fit into a production schedule. Fortunately, I had an accomplished co-producer to write contracts and help with the legal ins and outs. Finding cast, writing interview questions, hiring a crew, and being resilient made it all possible. Building a team of people who were just as passionate as myself made the film successful. Passionate individuals played many parts: poster designer, songwriter, interviewees, co-producer, camera crew, editor, and donors, all part and parcel of the effort.
As an environmental filmmaker making a film about Wisconsin’s Gray wolf population, a species constantly persecuted, I aimed to educate and dispel the myths that prevailed in our Western culture by filming a compelling story. I believe there is much to learn from the stories in indigenous cultures. After all, the Ojibwa have lived with wolves for centuries, and the story of thier resiliency during a time when the state was persecuting wolves, who they consider brothers, was a story that needed to be told.
In the late 1980s, I met the Native American activist John Trudell. His spoken word poetry-songs inspired my activism and gave me the strength to speak up about what I believed in. For example, the wolf represents more than just an animal. They are one of the most essential parts of an ecosystem. I speak out against trophy hunts because Gray wolves are iconic predators that rely on each other to survive, and killing one means hardship for the whole family. Individuals matter is a conservation ethic I learned from Dr. Jane Goodall, another person who inspired my activism. That is why I approached her to be one of the cast members in the film. The year it all began was in February 2021; the film started with the story of a devastating trophy wolf hunt in Wisconsin. As I began to film the story of people & wolves, I learned about the relationship between Indigenous people and the sentient being they called Ma’iingan, which means wolf in their language. They are deeply connected to the wolf and are part of thier creation story. The Ojbwa and the wolf both lost territories due to Western cultural expansion. Learning about those relationships made me more determined to make the film to get that message out there to the public.
People & Wolves: A Sorry of Coexistence was finished three years later through lessons of resiliency that shaped it into an award-winning film. I had to be resilient to protect its message, which meant making hard decisions during the many production phases. As the film took on a life of its own, becoming a reality, patience was sometimes tricky. I put it out there to be judged at several film festivals. It proved to be a winner in the film festival circuits. One of the highlights was winning the award for Best Documentary Short at my hometown film festival with my children, now grown with their children present to witness.
The Wolf Connection Podcast
Rachel Tilseth is the Producer & Director and Manish Bhatt is the Associate Producer of People & Wolves: A Wisconsin Story Mired in Political Intrigue. The film tells the story of Wisconsin’s gray wolves, the controversies surrounding them, and how people learn to coexist as these native predators are finally back on the landscape after nearly 45 years.
Rachel and Manish both spoke about the filmmaking process, the impact these issues have had on them personally, and what they are looking to achieve with the films message.
Find Your Wild Podcast Interview January 20, 2025
Opinion Editorial by Rachel Tilseth, September 26, 2021, https://wausaupilotandreview.com/2021/09/26/your-words-nrb-politics-threaten-wolf-recovery/
Your words: NRB politics threaten wolf recovery
Dear editor,
Laid out before me was the skeleton remains of a White-tailed deer: clear signs of a wolf kill site. The ribs were facing up-right, the hide was in a tight bundle beside the remains, and the fur lay on the ground in a circle all around the remains. I felt a great deal of respect for both the deer and the wolf. This was part of nature’s plan, part of the predator and prey dynamics. I came upon the site in the year 2003 while scouting my wolf tracking block, and those memories remind me of my time spent observing wolf signs during Wisconsin’s wolf recovery program.
When I became a volunteer Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Winter wolf tracker in the year 2000, there were just 66 wolf packs. I was assigned a wolf tracking block in Douglas County, Wisconsin. The gray wolf population flourished while under the protection of the Endangered Species Act. Thirty years after Wisconsin began its wolf recovery program, I witnessed it disappear altogether. Wolf recovery went from zero to sixty, resulting in three consecutive wolf hunts, mandated by the conservative controlled state legislature.
The most unfortunate aspect of this process was the loss of public education & input: the conservative party controlled wolf management. And, to top it off, anti-wolf fringe hunters also came to dominate politics. They pushed misinformation instead of science. They began campaigns full of political rhetoric designed to scare the public. The propaganda by anti-wolf politicians & fringe hunters were claiming wolves are killing all the deer, and the people in the northwoods don’t want them in their backyards.
Today I’m reminded of these same political dynamics that surrounded gray wolf management in Wisconsin back then. I debated writing about the recent events surrounding wolf management in Wisconsin because I felt drained by the drama of it all. It’s just more of the same, just a different day, different year and different decade with politics that surround the wolf. It’s more about people than wolves because people drive politics.
Take for instance the August 11, 2021 meeting of the Natural Resources Board (NRB). The chair, Dr. Prehn (R), wants a wolf hunt so bad that he refuses to relinquish his seat to Governor Evers’ (D) appointee, Sandy Naas, and it’s made headlines all over the world.
At the NRB meeting, chair Prehn and four other board members went against the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) scientific recommendations of a wolf quota of 130 and voted it up to 300. They also voted that the DNR must get approval from the NRB if they change the 300 quota number. That move puts conservatives in the majority to control wolf hunting in November 2021.
For the most part, it’s interesting to add for public information that many are the same players from the past decade. The same party holds majority power, and refuses to hear any scientific evidence, just as before during the prior three wolf hunts. These same tactics led to the gray wolf being relisted. A Federal Judge ordered that endangered species protection be restored immediately in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan on December 19, 2014.
I’m witnessing the same political ploys being carried over to today’s NRB. In the past, the wolf advisory meetings that were run under then DNR Secretary Cathy Stepp (R) were chalked full of dirty politics and it’s no different today. It was as hard to watch then as today. Because the same anti-wolf propaganda is being carried on in today’s wolf management. Just like back then, the anti-wolf crowd would have you believe everyone living in wolf country doesn’t want them there.
Meanwhile, I don’t believe the anti-wolf’s argument that all the people living in wolf territory want them gone or hunted down to a population of 350.
Based on my experience, not everyone in wolf country hates & fears wolves. I track wolves in Douglas County, Wisconsin. In 2004 I needed a plot map for tracking and went over to the Douglas County forestry office to purchase one. While I was standing by the counter, in the office waiting for someone to wait on me, I looked up to see several pictures hanging above the counter of wolf puppies.
In conclusion, in a DNR Public Attitudes Towards Wolves Survey taken in 2014, Douglas County has the highest density of wolves and people, with 56% of the citizens wanting to live with wolves. Interestingly enough, Douglas County has the oldest populations of wolves and the most tolerant people, showing that Wisconsinites can coexist with wolves.
Animals, Environment
DNR Will Soon Allow Dogs To Chase Wolves For Training Purposes
Court Ruled Last Week That State Law Would Not Prohibit Such Training
By Chuck Quirmbach
July 17, 2014
The Department of Natural Resources said wolf hunters may soon start letting dogs chase wolves, as part of training for the fall wolf hunting season.
A Wisconsin court last week allowed wolf hunters to have their dogs pursue wolves for training purposes. DNR wolf expert Dave MacFarland said there were no additional rules his agency had to approve.
He said he expects wolf hunters to do the same sort of things as hunters of coyotes, bobcats and bears.
“We’re currently, for example, in our bear training season,” said MacFarland. “Hunters are out using the same regulations that apply during the bear season — pursuing bears, but not harvesting them at the end of the pursuit.”
MacFarland said if a dog were to catch up with a wolf, the hunter would have to immediately gain control of the dog and release the wolf unharmed.
MacFarland said wardens will be out looking for violations. He said if a dog bites a wolf, the hunter could get a ticket.
“If the person who is out training knowingly allows their dog to engage with the wolf, and allows that activity to continue without trying to immediately stop it, then they would be in violation,” said MacFarland.
MacFarland said wolves that are chased during dog training may be more stressed; whether the stress is excessive, he said, would depend on the nature the pursuit and how often the wolf is chased.
Rachel Tilseth of Wolves of Douglas County, Wisconsin said she especially worries about the pups of adult wolves.
“They leave pups at rendezvous sites while they go out hunting,” said Tilseth. “What will happen when the dogs run into 4-month-old puppies at these rendezvous sites?“
Tilseth said she hopes wolf hunters use caution.
Other wolf advocates are criticizing the DNR for not moving faster on permanent rules covering dog training. The DNR says it intends to have something in place before the next wolf breeding season.
Source: Wisconsin Public Radio, © Copyright 2025, Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and Wisconsin Educational Communications Board.
A Wisconsin Wolf Hunt Discussion
December 7, 2021 by Access Hour
Rachel Tilseth, author of Wolves of Douglas County Wisconsin invites you to listen to the December 6th Access Hour, for an in-depth conversation regarding the lawsuits and the use of dogs in Wisconsin’s wolf hunt with special guests Adrian Wydeven; who led the Wisconsin DNR Wolf Recovery Program from 1990 through 2013, and Peter David; a wildlife biologist with the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission.
Traditionally the first week of December is when wolf hunters are allowed to use dogs to track and trail grey wolves. Wisconsin is the only state that allows wolf hunters to use dogs because of a law, 2011 Wisconsin Act 169 that was enacted during the Walker administration.
Tracking Wisconsin’s Elusive Gray Wolf
by Rachel Tilseth, First published in Silent Sports Magazine’s April 2022 issue and reprinted with permission.
Every winter, wolf trackers span out across Wisconsin’s northern and central forests to count wolves. As soon as the snow flies, they are on the elusive gray wolf (Canis lupus) trail, sometimes called Timber Wolf. Gray wolves are the largest members of the Canidae family, including coyotes and foxes.
Wolves can weigh up to 90 pounds and telling tracks apart from a large dog can be tricky. To help make the distinction, Adrian Wydeven, a wolf biologist, said, “A wolf [paw print] is more rectangular in shape, whereas a dog’s is rounder.”
The latest wolf population estimate was 1,126, before the hunt in February 2021.
Counting wolves in Wisconsin involves employing the help of dedicated citizen volunteer trackers who search for a diverse array of animals. Trackers focus primarily on carnivores within wolf territories to give scientists a measure of ecosystem health; they must take wolf ecology and wildlife tracking courses to learn species identification by tracks.
Sara Boles and Adrian Wydeven.
Wife and husband Sarah Boles and Adrian Wydeven have been tracking the gray wolf in northern Wisconsin for decades now. Sarah grew up as an urbanite who found her heart in the northern forest. Adrian led the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Wolf Recovery Program from 1990 through 2013. They live just outside Cable, Wisconsin, in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, a 1.5-million-acre woodland that cuts across northern Wisconsin. The Cable area boasts the most extensive community-wide, multi-use trail system in the United States, earning the title Charter Trail Town USA by the American Hiking Society.
In 1995, Sarah became a part-time wildlife technician for the Wisconsin DNR. Although Adrian retired officially in 2015, he remains actively involved in wolf surveys and conservation through the Timber Wolf Alliance and Wisconsin Green Fire. The couple works together to survey gray wolves for the Wisconsin DNR.
“We were drawn to the Cable area,” Adrian said, “because it’s known as a mecca for silent sports enthusiasts.” Sometimes using vehicles, both often use silent sports disciplines, such as hiking, snowshoeing, and cross-country skiing, to survey for wolves. Adrian’s favorite way to track wolves is by cross-country skiing because it’s efficient at finding which way the wolves are heading. Sometimes Adrian drops Sarah off on a trail along a forest road and she skis to the next road intersection while he follows roads, searching for signs of wolves along the way. He then picks her up at the next trail crossing.
Along with tribal and federal wildlife biologists, DNR staff conduct surveys and have incorporated trained citizen scientists to assist in monitoring wolf populations since 1995. Adrian developed the annual winter tracking survey to offer interested people the opportunity to become involved in the wolf monitoring program.
In January 2022, I joined Sarah and Adrian on a winter wolf survey in the northern forest. The temperature gauge on my vehicle’s dashboard indicated nine degrees as we entered the forest service road to begin. Heading out, our measurement showed snow cover at 13 to 14 inches in the woods and 3 inches along the road. Sarah showed me the WDNR Tracking App on her smartphone and Adrian showed me his datasheet with key information: Current weather, snow depth, last snowfall, survey block number, wolf pack, and the names of the survey participants.
Wolf surveyors are taught not to disturb or alter the behavior of wolves when tracking because doing so may cause them to change their movements. “The science behind tracking requires using all your senses,” Sarah said. As an example, she was cross-country skiing a trail a few years ago when she saw a small plane flying low and circling the area around her position. WDNR used airplanes and radio telemetry to count wolves in winter and Sarah happened to be directly underneath, realizing then that wolves were right there. She soon found very fresh tracks but never saw the wolves.
Adrian and Sarah look for signs of wolves by searching for paw prints, urination, scrapings, and scats. Adrian said, “A wolf track without claws would typically be 3.5 to 4.0 inches in length.”
During our survey, it wasn’t long before we stopped and they jumped out onto the road to check for possible signs of wolves. Urination markings by the side of the road were obvious signs of gray wolves. Markings on the sides of snowbanks, called raised leg urination (RLU), are made by the alpha pair. Rusty color in the urine indicated blood and a female going into estrus soon.
Wolves mark their range with these signs for several reasons, primarily territorial. January and February typically are prime breeding seasons for wolves. Adrian pointed out that we were between three different wolf pack territories. It wasn’t long before we stopped to examine similar markings on the side of the road.
“These wolf signs are a tenth of a mile apart all along the side of the road,” Sarah said. She and Adrian make a point to stop just before an intersection to get out and walk carefully to examine for markings and movement patterns. Adrian explained, “Wolves often leave scats in the middle of an intersection to let neighboring wolf packs know their territory border.” He emphasized, “It’s not a good idea to follow wolf tracks long distances from roads in late March or April, to avoid stumbling into and disturbing a wolf den site. Pups are usually born in early or mid-April, but the breeding female will start spending time at the den in late March, preparing for the birth of the pups, and disturbance may cause her to abandon a den site.” Sarah added, “Surveying wolves is a mystery solved best with the help of a two-person tracking team.”
Their history of working as a team was made clear to this observer. They jumped out in perfect unison, one going to the front, the other to the back to check for signs of wolves. “I’ve got two wolves,” Sarah said. Adrian echoed back, “Two here.”
While conducting this wolf survey, they tracked three to four wolves, two dogs, one coyote, two foxes, four fishers, one American marten, and one bobcat along 11.9 miles of forest road between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. We also found paw prints made by a rare American Marten.
“American Martens are state-endangered mammals,” Adrian said. Both pointed out the area around its tracks, saying that American Martens (Martes americana) like dense conifer forests and hardwood conifer mixes.
In the following video clip, Sarah demonstrates how a bobcat walks.
Another critical skill is learning how the animal you are surveying moves. Sarah demonstrated how a bobcat moves, comparing it to a typical house cat, raising her arms to imitate a catwalk. She said, “The prints in the snow look almost like an interlocking chain.”
We continued down the forest service road, gathering valuable data, getting in and out of the vehicles many times, and stopping to discuss what we found: Because it looked as if one wolf jumped off the road and into the woods at one point, were the wolves chasing a deer in and out of the forest? Then a few feet down the road, another wolf jumped into the forest, headed towards the first wolf.
As we traveled the service roads, Sarah and Adrian found one wolf that turned out to be two wolves trotting down the road. Boles pointed out that when wolves walk, they direct-register by putting the back foot into the front footprint.
It was getting late in the day and we were losing the light needed to see wolf tracks. Adrian put on a headlamp and proceeded to check. We and the wolf tracks were now at the end of the forest service road, intersecting with a highway. But for Adrian’s headlamp, the light had disappeared, making it apparent this survey has ended.
Sarah looked at Adrian and pronounced, “Let’s call it.”
They maintained that there was more to the story here and, when they got back home, they would put the data on a map, hoping to solve the mystery of how many wolves live in the area and where they’ll be heading next. They shared the following survey results with me: We had mostly stayed within the territory of one wolf pack that, based on previous surveys, we determined to consist of at least four wolves. It appeared we had followed the recent movements of 2 to 4 members of this pack for about 9 miles. Two packs might have met along part of the route where there was a lot of intense wolf activity. While impossible to get a good count on the second pack, it was probably a similarly sized pack. A count of 4 wolves would be an average size pack for Wisconsin in mid/late winter, where pack size can range from 2 to 12 wolves.
These expert but learnable surveying techniques allow you to gain precious insight into the mysteries of the wolf and other forest predators and prey, increasing appreciation of our shared forests and trails. If you are interested in participating in the winter wolf tracking survey, contact the DNR at: dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/WildlifeHabitat/training.html.
DNR Releases New Draft Of Wolf Management Plan
August 1, 2023 by Heewone Lim and WORT News Department
Tilseth says that the bonds the animals have with each other as pack animals should not be disturbed. “I think the February 2021 wolf hunt proved it wasn’t good to hunt them, especially when they were pregnant, especially to break the packs apart when they rely on each other.”
