Wisconsin Wolf Hunt temporarily blocked by court

MADISON, Wisconsin (AP) – A judge on Friday suspended Wisconsin’s fall wolf season two weeks before hunters set off for the woods, siding with wildlife groups who have argued that the hunt would be unconstitutional.

Dane County Circuit Judge Jacob Frost has issued a temporary injunction ending the season, which was scheduled to begin on November 6. The order is part of a lawsuit that a coalition of wildlife groups filed in August to stop hunting and invalidate a state. law authorizing annual seasons.

Among other things, the coalition argued that the season is illegal because the Department of Natural Resources failed to update its regulations defining season parameters and relied on an emergency rule put in place shortly. long after the government of the day. Scott Walker signed a law in 2012 allowing annual seasons and a wolf management plan that has not been updated since 2007.

Frost said the law creating Wolf Season is constitutional on its face, but the DNR has failed to create permanent bylaws to enact it. The law gives the DNR wide latitude to set killing limits, hunting zone hours and the number of licenses, which makes it all the more important that the department follows the regulatory process to ensure that it does not violate the separation of powers between legislative and executive powers. , says Frost.

“I am not canceling the law on wolf hunting. In fact, I’m saying it needs to be applied as it was written and intended, ”Frost said. “The DNR does not currently follow the law or the constitution. Its decisions are built on a flawed basis, which means they can’t stand either. “

The judge said the injunction will remain in effect until the DNR implements updated regulations on setting quotas and the number of licenses it issues and updates its wolf management plan. with new wolf population goals for the state.

Hannah Jurss, deputy attorney general representing the DNR in the case, called on Frost to stay her decision pending appeal, calling her decision “undoubtedly a dramatic one.” Frost declined, saying the DNR could still host a season this year if they can quickly pass new regulations.

DNR spokeswoman Sarah Hoye said the agency would review the injunction and had no further comment.

Hunters, farmers, and conservationists have battled for years over how to deal with wolves in Wisconsin. Farmers insist that animals destroy their crops and killing them is the only way to control them. Environmentalists and wildlife advocates insist the wolf population is too fragile to endure hunting and the animals are too beautiful to be destroyed.

The state held fall seasons for wolves in 2012, 2013, and 2014 before a federal judge put the animal back on the endangered species list.

The Trump administration removed them from the list last year and the decision became final in January, triggering a hunting season in Wisconsin.

The DNR was preparing to launch a November season, but the Kansas-based hunting group Hunter Nation won a court order forcing the agency to hold a season in February. The group argued that the Biden administration could restore federal protections for wolves at any time, denying hunters the ability to kill the animals.

The DNR was quick to set up a season, setting the kill limit at 119 wolves. The hunters quickly crossed the line, killing 218 wolves in just four days. The latest DNR estimates put the wolf population in Wisconsin at around 1,000.

Environmentalists have called the season a massacre. They urged the DNR board to cancel the fall season to protect what’s left of the population. The Conservatives on the Board of Directors, however, dismissed these concerns. At a meeting in August, they authorized the fall hunting season and set the slaughter limit at 300 wolves, sparking legal action from wildlife groups as well as a federal lawsuit against them. ‘half a dozen Chippewa tribes. The Chippewa consider the wolf to be sacred. This trial is still pending.

Earlier this month, the DNR, which is controlled by Democratic Governor Tony Evers, took the unprecedented step of unilaterally reducing the kill limit to 130 wolves, openly defying the board.

The Chippewa have claimed 56 of these animals under treaty rights that allow them to claim 50% of the quota in the ceded territory of northern Wisconsin – land that the tribes gave to the government in the 1800s. The Chippewa consider the wolf as sacred and refuse to hunt it, which means that if the season arrives, the work quota for hunters with a state license will be 74 wolves.