During the last days of 2011, specifically on Dec. 28, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services officially removed the gray wolf from the endangered species list in the Western Great Lakes region, a region that includes the state of Wisconsin. For the past 40 years, the gray wolf has been protected under the federal Endangered Species Act. Thus, following this news, the state's legislatures drafted a bill that will allow the Department of Natural Resources to issue "wolf harvesting licenses."
The licenses, costing as little as $10 to as much as $100 or $500 depending on demand and a person's residency status, authorize both "the hunting and trapping of wolves" from "October 15 through the end of February." While the bill is in itself mostly a good idea, legislatures should be cautious when considering some of the contents of the "Wisconsin Wolf Management Act."
Why the legislatures are moving at such a quick pace to introduce and pass a piece of legislation is understandable. Farm animals, household pets, and other small animals are easy prey for wolves. It does not take a biologist to figure that much out. Controlling a species that likes to prey upon your small Yorkshire Terrier is understandable.
However, scientists, as well as Democrats, have expressed concern about proposing such a bill so soon after the species was taken off the federal endangered species list.
Hypothetically, if wolf hunting were to get out of hand and the population dropped significantly, the federal government would have to put the species on the endangered species list once again, causing a headache for wildlife experts.
State Rep. Scott Suder, R-Abbotsford, coauthored the bill with a handful of other lawmakers and cited that he would be "open to make changes" regarding some of the contents within the bill. He acknowledged that the intent of the bill is to give the DNR the authority to oversee the wolf population as a whole rather than to reduce the population to a specific amount.
Fifteen groups or individuals, including the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation, Wisconsin Cattlemen's Association, National Rifle Association, United Sportsmen of Wisconsin and Wisconsin Bear Hunters Association testified or registered to throw their support behind the bill, while the Humane Society of the United States and two other individuals opposed the legislation.
Yet admittedly, some of the measures within the bill are a bit over the top and some may deem them to be bordering upon cruel.
Consider the provisions that allow for certified persons who have obtained a wolf harvesting license to "hunt wolves during nighttime," to use dogs to "track or trail wolves," to make use of "electronic calls" to locate wolves, and to utilize "cable restraints" for trapping purposes.
Full disclosure: I am not a hunter. Regardless, PETA would not be very happy about some of these provisions.
It is understandable that the state wants to control the gray wolf population given the fact that they had to pay over $300,000 to farmers and livestock handlers last year because of gray wolf attacks.
Nonetheless, I don't know, maybe it is just me, but there still seems to be something that is somewhat unsettling about having someone prowling around near my property in the dead of night with a crossbow, a pack of dogs, and trapping devices. That right there is a problem that many Wisconsin residents might have with this bill and it needs to be addressed.
I would support this bill so long as persons with a hunting or trapping license fully disclose all harvested wolves and bring them to registered stations so that scientists can adequately document the hunted wolves as a means to keep a tap on the population. While gray wolves may harm other living animals and cost the state of Wisconsin thousands of dollars a year in payouts to destroyed livestock populations, gray wolves are a species, a species that was only until recently an endangered one.
Ethan Safran is a freshman with an undeclared major. Please send all feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
