Resources Board Boosts WI Wolf Kill; A Possible Explanation

Updating information about Wisconsin's wolf hunt from a couple of days ago, and keep this other magnificant animal in mind, too:
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The Wisconsin Natural Resources Board and Walker-appointed policy-makers at the DNR are allowing the killing of substantially more wolves this coming season - - 37% - - and cutting the permit fee in half.

Details here.

Part of the reason the DNR is allowing more wolves to be 'harvested' is that the Ojibwe, who consider the animal spiritually significant, left their allotment of permits idle last year and refused to to do their share of 'harvesting.'

So the authorities are working around the tribal no-show by simply increasing the total number of allowable kills.

But beyond further pandering to the NRA and some hunters' votes, sticking it to the tribes who won't kill wolves and keeping up the pressure because they don't want an iron mine being dug and blown up for 35 years in the Bad River watershed, is there anything else behind so sharply increasing the projected kill?

I posed some basic questions at the Purple Wisconsin blog site  - -  Why increase WI wolf kill? Why have the hunt, period? - - and thought I'd pass on this exchange:

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   jimspice - Tuesday at 1:50 AM - Report Abuse

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   My brother-in-law recently participated in an elk herd survey in Northwestern Wisconsin, and apparently wolves are a big obstacle in getting the herd established. I have no problem with a hunt to keep the wolf population at a manageable size. But I prefer those decisions to be made by educated, knowledgable wildlife experts. Not whacko state legislators with a monied constituency to appease.

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     Moller - Yesterday at 9:23 AM - Report Abuse

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     Dick Thiel and Adrian Wydeven are by far the most experienced experts on wolves in this state, yet their voices were drowned out and ignored, especially with regards to dogs in the hunt. Furthermore, and this is in regards to comments above, not Jimspice's, if you are interested in the science of all this, you know that wolves are only a small factor in the overall deer population (weather is probably the biggest. Sorry you can't "manage" the weather). Hunters take way more deer annually so if the deer numbers are down the quickest rebound is a limit the next season. All hunters that argue that deer numbers are down and demonstrate that with science are really arguing for limits on the next deer season. Finally, let's take the dogs out. I haven't heard a cogent argument for that yet. It's heinous and there is a reason other states don't do it. As far as Elk are concerned I want to get this straight, you want to kill wolves so you can introduce elk so you can shoot elk?

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     md011 - Yesterday at 10:06 AM - Report Abuse

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     Not to answer for Jimspice (and without knowledge of correlation but generally speaking) yes you are correct...I would shoot wolves so I could introduce elk so I could shoot elk

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     jimspice - Yesterday at 1:48 PM - Report Abuse

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     No, I believe the purpose for the elk project is to reintroduce a species that was indigenous before we hunted them to extinction in the state. Yes, if the project is successful, it will probably result in a hunt to manage the herd, but I don't believe that is the impetus of the plan.