By a vote of 4-3, the Wisconsin Natural Resources Board rejected a request by lawmakers to conduct a wolf hunt in February. State law calls for a hunt to take place from October 15 through February to help manage the population when wolves are delisted, which officially happened earlier this year.
“To me, we’re not fulfilling our duty as an agency if we’re not complying with that management plan,” Commissioner Greg Kazmierski told Urban Milwaukee.
“We continue to have a negative view of the species itself in the northern portion of state because, quite frankly, we have to live with (wolves) and without being able to manage them,” Matt Lallemont, a Wisconsin resident, told Urban Milwaukee.
In September 2020, the DNR reported the Wisconsin wolf population ranges between 957 to 1,573 or roughly 340 percent above state management plan. Two months later, the DNR announced a wolf hunt would take place in November 2021, which is still being planned.
(Photo source: Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources)