After "leaning in and knocking down and killing Wolves like they are "pins in a bowling alley", the Wisconsin Wildlife Wolf Advisory Board is calling for a 38% reduction in Wolf kills this year...............This Group is without legal power so the state Dept. of Natural Resources is not legally required to follow their recommendation which would reduce the kill quota from 251(2013) TO 156 this year......................The kill of 257 wolves by hunters and trappers in 2013 reduced the wolf population by 19%, according to the DNR................. Wisconsin had an estimated minimum population of 638 to 667 wolves at the end of the winter 2013-'14. ....If DNR goes with the 156 quota, it is estimated that another 5 to 20% reduction of Wolves will occur..........So, what this all means is that the roughly 845 wolves that existed in Wisconsin prior to federal delisting have been reduced by 200 wolves, with another 130 possible reduction planned for 2014------520 wolves to be alive come Christmas?----------Why is 300 plus wolf reduction necessary when farmers always had the ability to protect their livestock from wolves that sought to take their property?

http://www.emailthis.clickability.com/et/emailThis?clickMap=viewThis&etMailToID=301744121

Wisconsin Wolf advisory committee recommends lower wolf harvest quota for 2014

By Paul A. Smith of the Journal Sentinel

May 19, 2014

• 
• EMAIL
 
• PRINT
 
• |(5) COMMENTS

The state's Wolf Advisory Committee recommended a harvest quota of 156 wolves for the 2014-'15 Wisconsin hunting and trapping season, down from a kill goal of 251 in 2013.

This year's quota would still designed to reduce the wolf population but at a slower rate than 2013, said Dave MacFarland, Department of Natural Resources large carnivore specialist.

The committee met Monday in Wausau to review harvest models and develop a recommendation.

The committee is advisory; DNR executives will consider its recommendation as the agency forwards a quota request to the Natural Resources Board. In 2013 the DNR did not change the committee's recommendation.

Since the state assumed management of the species in 2012, the DNR has been working to reduce the wolf population toward a late winter, minimum count of 350 wolves.

The kill of 257 wolves by hunters and trappers in 2013 reduced the wolf population by 19%, according to the DNR. Wisconsin had an estimated minimum population of 638 to 667 wolves at the end of the winter 2013-'14. 

The wolf population typically doubles in spring after pups are born then declines to various causes to an annual low in late winter. Population estimates are conducted in winter when the population is near its low and when the animals are easiest to track and count.

The Wolf Advisory Committee consists of DNR biologists and wildlife managers, several federal agency representatives, a representative of the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission, and several stakeholder groups, including the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation, Wisconsin Trappers Association, Wisconsin Bear Hunters Association, Wisconsin Conservation Congress, Wisconsin Cattlemen's Association and the Timber Wolf Alliance.

The members entered written ballots of their preferred wolf harvest quota. The submissions ranged from 0 to 300, with a mean of 156. Eleven members preferred a quota of less than 150 wolves, nine wanted a quota higher than 160.

Based on two models of the impact of human-caused mortality on wolf populations, a kill of 156 wolves this fall in Wisconsin would result in a population reduction ranging from 5 to 20%, MacFarland said.

The models also factor in mortality from car collisions and depredation control efforts. Non-hunting and trapping mortality to wolves is estimated at 14% annually, said Jen Stenglein, DNR wildlife researcher.

The committee recommended the proposed quota of 156 animals be split among the state's six wolf management zones as: 33 wolves in Zone 1, 16 in 2, 41 in 3, 9 in 4, 21 in 5 and 36 in 6.

"Some of you are disappointed the quota isn't higher, others are unhappy it isn't lower," MacFarland said. "But this is in keeping with our goal of putting downward pressure on the wolf population in a responsible way."

The committee also voted to issue the same ratio of permits (10 times the quota) used in the previous two wolf hunting and trapping seasons. If the harvest quota is 156, the state would issue 1,560 kill permits.

MacFarland said he would present the committee's recommendations to DNR executives this week. The agency will then produce its recommendation to the Natural Resources Board.

The Natural Resource Board is expected to vote on the 2014-'15 wolf quota at its June 25 meeting in Milwaukee.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wisconsin's gray wolf population grew in 2012

Weekly News article published: June 19, 2012 by the Central Office
PARK FALLS, Wis. -- Wisconsin's gray wolf population at the close of the 2011-2012 winter was estimated to be 815-880, a roughly 4 percent increase over the 2010-2011 end-of-winter estimate