Less than two months after wolves in the Great Lakes region were removed from the federal endangered species list, the Wisconsin State Assembly approved a bill on Wednesday that would open the way for a wolf hunting and trapping season.
The bill, supported by hunting groups, Republicans and some Democrats, passed by a 69-25 vote. It was opposed by environmental groups and the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Game Commission, which represents Ojibwe tribes in Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota. The tribes have significant rights in wildlife management in much of the area where wolves are found and said they were not consulted on the hunting plans as required by a treaty. State wildlife biologists also criticized various elements of the bill.
The measure now goes to Gov. Scott Walker.
A number of Democrats spoke Wednesday against the bill and sought amendments, denouncing it as “very irresponsible and anti-science.” No Republicans spoke for the bill or against the amendments.
Seven proposed amendments failed to win approval. Most were intended to soften the bill, which would allow hunting at night with dogs, lights and traps. One amendment, offered by a Democrat who cast it as a jobs measure, would have required that hunters eat the wolves they killed, supposedly creating some additional jobs for butchers and chefs.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources would have the leeway to decide how many licenses to issue for the hunting season, which would run from mid-October through the end of February.
My View: The issue of hunting wolves has been a touchy subject in the hunting world. There are valid reasons on both sides of the debate of hunting; however, wolves have been on the endangered species list for some time now, and as soon as there's a healthy population, we decide its OK to kill some. The money generated from the hunting season could help in the smaller communities that pepper the surrounding wolf territories; however, it seems the cost might be too high.
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