Wolf 'Management' Professionals To Meet, Speak In Milwaukee

When Wisconsin legislators were planning the state's first wolf hunt in 2012, it was reported by watchdog journalist Rebecca Kemble that DNR wolf experts were not required to testify at hearings where GOP legislators and hunting allies wanted and produced a fast-tracked, big-quota hunt:

The bulk of testimony was against the bill, and most people mentioned the rushed and secretive process with which it was written and introduced into committee. Two retired DNR wildlife biologists and five faculty members from the University of Wisconsin who specialize in wildlife ecology and biology testified “for informational purposes only.”

All but the one who does work for the Bear Hunters Association slammed the committee for not considering scientific data or recommendations while crafting the bill.

Dr. Adrian Treves, Director of the Carnivore Coexistence Lab at the Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Science, was “dismayed that wolf biologists from the DNR were not required to testify.”

Now the DNR wants its experts to talk to the world about "wolf management," though Wisconsin's second-year wolf quota is substantially elevated and the state pays bear hunters whose hounds run into fatal confrontations with wolves even in published caution areas. Those confrontations are dramatically escalating, records show, and had cost the state nearly $400.000.

Will there be any opponents, critics - - even skeptics - -  of Wisconsin's wolf and related hunting policies (such as bear baiting, which attracts wolves and contributes to their vulnerability) at the conference described this way in a current DNR electronic newsletter:

DNR scientists to participate in worldwide discussion on wolf management at The Wildlife Society conference in Milwaukee

MADISON -- With the arrival of The Wildlife Society’s conference starting Oct. 5 in Milwaukee, wildlife management professionals from Wisconsin and North America will convene to discuss an issue that extends far beyond Wisconsin borders, wolves.

The session titled, Brave New World: Conservation landscapes of recovered wolves, aims to pull together ideas and research results from experts in the U.S. and Europe to inform wolf management policies. The recent delisting of wolves as an endangered species has been marked as a conservation success, but it brings with it a new dynamic of population management for both wildlife and people.

“The wolf session will be a great opportunity for DNR staff to collaborate and share ideas on wolf management with others who are also dealing with the complex issue,” said Adrian Wydeven, wildlife biologist. “We’re looking forward to hearing what other agencies are doing.”

Following the opening of the main wolf session, Wydeven will give a presentation on wolf conservation efforts from then and now. Wydeven’s presentation is part of a series of other wolf related talks covering a wide-range of themes including: effects of wolf predation, wolf harvests and the coexistence of wolves and people.

The wolf plenary session begins Oct. 8, three days after the start of The Wildlife Society annual conference. The wolf sessions also tie into the overall theme of this year’s conference promoting science communications, and researcher’s involvement in communicating their work with the public.

For more information visit The Wildlife Society's website at wildlifesociety.org (exit DNR).

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Karl Martin, Wildlife and forestry research section chief; 608-224-7138 karl.martin@wisconsin.gov