Wildlife conservationists ask court to stop wolf hunt

Lawyers for the Animal Wellness Action, the Center for a Humane Economy, Friends of the Wisconsin Wolf and Wildlife, Project Coyote, and Wisconsin resident Pat Clark have filed new motions with the Dane County Circuit Court in an ongoing challenge to Wisconsin’s wolf management, according to a joint release. The groups allege the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and its Natual Resources Board (NRB) set the wolf kill quota without the requisite knowledge, data, and studies to implement safe and informed wolf management. At an August NRB hearing, the wolf kill quota was proposed at 130 with a kill reporting time from between 24 to 47 hours. The groups allege the reporting time will “virtually assure” the quota will be exceeded by a significant number. In August, the NRB originally set the quota at 300 and in August the DNR significantly reduced that number to 130. Additionally, six Ojibwe tribes have sued the NRB to stop the fall hunt, accusing the DNR of mismanaging natural resources and violating treaties with the U.S. government that guarantee the tribes a share of resources within the Ceded Territory of northern Wisconsin.