WI Legislators Balk At Bear Poaching Reform

Certainly interesting that just as there is news in Wisconsin about a trophy-sized bear somehow getting killed out-of-season by someone somewhere, it is disclosed that an effort to increase the penalty for doing exactly that can't even survive a legislative proposal.

The bill also imposes higher surcharges for poaching trophy elk and bear, but [State GOP Rep. Mary] Williams and [State Sen. Jerry] Petrowski have introduced an amendment to erase those provisions. Petrowski said in an interview and told the Senate committee the bill was always intended to raise only deer surcharges and he's not sure how elk and bear got included... 

[State DNR Warden Nick] Nice said the sportsmen's club wanted to see elk and bear included in the bill. Williams told him a few weeks ago she was running into opposition on bears, he said. 

The Wisconsin Bear Hunters Association is a powerful lobbying force in Madison. State records show nobody has officially registered to lobby on the bill, however, and the association's lobbyist, Bob Welch, didn't immediately return messages.

William Faulkner wrote about these matters a long time ago, and, regrettably, the lessons go unlearned.

Photo courtesy of Emery Orlikowski of Green Bay, from DNR

Additional context, here, and file at#Powerfulbearlobby.