Public comment period now open for proposed permanent wolf rule

Scott Karel, Department of Natural Resources (DNR) policy specialist, appeared before the state Natural Resources Board (NRB) in August to review the gray wolf harvest rule. He started with some background information on the delisting and relisting of the species. 

In January of 2010, wolves were federally delisted. At that time, the state legislature passed a bill outlining requirements for the department regarding the season. This included a mandate that the department hold a season. The DNR began working on rules needed to set harvest regulations for upcoming seasons.

In August of 2012, Emergency rule 1210 went into effect. While emergency rules are meant to be short term, statutory provisions of the bill allowed this rule to remain in effect until a permanent rule would subsequently be put in place. During this time, Karel said, the department started working on a wolf management plan as well as permanent rules. 

In December of 2014, federal protections for wolves were restored and they were placed back on the Endangered Species List (ESL). With that in mind, the department stopped all work on a management plan or any permanent rule packages. Should a rule not be promulgated within 30 months of the scope statement being accepted, the department can no longer work on those rules. That, Karel said, was essentially what happened with the permanent rule at that time. However, the emergency rule was still in effect.

In January of 2021, wolves were federally delisted again. At this time the DNR started to put a wolf management plan committee together. The agency also brought forward a scope statement to the NRB in April of 2021, which was then approved by the board. Wolves were subsequently given federal protection once again, but the department continued its work on the management plan and the permanent rule.

Content overview

The contents of the rule permanently codified provisions of EMR1210, Karel said. Most of the permanent rules simply brings those provisions into the permanent rule. Part of the permanent rule also incorporated recommendations from the wolf management plan. Those pieces include carcass tags valid in a specific zone or zones. Zone boundaries were also redrawn, which is reflected in this permanent rule. This rule also offer protection for wolf dens. 

The permanent rule would create faster harvest reporting, Karel said. Hunters and trappers would have eight (8) hours after the time of possession. The current rule allows until 5 p.m. the day after a harvested animal is recovered before they must be registered.

The permanent rule also includes an enhanced reimbursement rate for producers. These would be available to producers who are subject to multiple depredations during the same grazing season. 

A designated dog training season will correlate to a time only when it is allowed to use dogs to track or trail wolves. Once a season closes to harvest, Karel said, dogs would no longer be allowed to be trained for tracking or trailing wolves. 

Housekeeping updates were also made to the permanent rule. These would clear up any changes that have been made since 2012. For instance, it was originally mandated that at wolf season would start in October. Since then, that has changed to November. 

Public comment period

The public comment period for the permanent rule is now open. It closes on Sept. 15, 2023. A public hearing will be held virtually at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 12. Find the public hearing information on the DNR website at dnr.wi.gov by inputting “wolf permanent rule.” Those wishing to make a comment should pre-register and fill out the hearing appearance slip. The slip should then be emailed to [email protected]. Written comments to the rule can be emailed to [email protected].

Both the wolf management plan and the permanent rule will go to the Natural Resources Board during their October session. 

Beckie Gaskill may be reached via email at [email protected].