Public Review For Wolf Plan Extended

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is extending the public review and comment period for the draft Wolf Management Plan: https://widnr.widen.net/s/kpfkd8nr2n/draft_wisconsin_wolf-management_plan_nov2022

The review period is extended until Feb. 28, 2023 at 11:59 p.m.

This extension is intended to allow more time for the public to review the details of the plan and share their feedback on this important item. The public is encouraged to review the plan (linked above) and share their thoughts via the online comment tool: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/DC2M8W6

The DNR will also accept questions and comments via mail and email at:

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
C/O Wolf Management Plan Comments
101 S. Webster Street
PO Box 7921
Madison, WI 53707-7921
[email protected]

The DNR will review and consider all feedback submitted during the review period while preparing the final draft of the proposed wolf management plan.

The draft management plan lays out a holistic approach to ensuring the state’s wolf population remains healthy and secure while balancing the diverse interests of the public. The draft plan aims to effectively balance the tradeoffs between three main objectives:

• Ensuring a healthy and sustainable wolf population to fulfill its ecological role.
• Addressing and reducing wolf-related conflicts.
• Providing multiple benefits associated with the wolf population, including hunting, trapping and sightseeing.

What’s Staying The Same?

The draft plan provides that DNR staff will continue to monitor wolves each year and address wolf-related conflict (consistent with current law). The DNR will continue supporting and conducting scientific research and science-based decision-making. Collaboration with other agencies, tribal nations, stakeholder groups and the public on items of mutual importance remains a department priority.

What’s Changing?

The plan proposes several changes to align the DNR’s wolf management strategy with the current state of the wolf population, the available science and the perspectives of a diverse public, such as:

• Moving away from a single numeric population goal and instead using an adaptive management process focused on balancing the three main objectives (above).
• Reducing harvest registration times and issuing zone-specific wolf harvest permits to improve the department’s ability to effectively meet harvest quotas.
• Adding mechanisms to address localized concerns, including wolf harvest concerns near tribal reservation boundaries and focused wolf harvest in areas with a history of wolf-livestock conflict.
• Revising wolf management zone boundaries to better reflect current wolf distribution and habitat.