A lawsuit brought by animal rights activists seeking to invalidate Wisconsin’s new wolf management plan was dismissed by a judge on Monday.
Dane County Circuit Court Judge Stephen Elke has dismissed a lawsuit accusing Wisconsin wildlife officials of violating the state’s open meetings law and ignoring comments from wolf researchers and advocates. It reflects how controversial the debate over wolf management is.
Wisconsin DNR defends ban on population limits in wolf management plan
Elke ruled for the court, granting a motion to dismiss filed by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and its board of directors. The lawsuit was filed by the Great Lakes Wildlife Alliance, also known as Friends of Wisconsin Wolf and Wildlife.
The complaint alleges that members of the Department of Natural Resources’ policy committee collected comments on the wolf management plan from interest groups supported by the department even after the public comment period had ended.
The lawsuit focused on three private discussions attended by board members sponsored by the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation, the Wisconsin Sporting Dog Association, and Wisconsin Wolf Facts.
This April 18, 2008 photo provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service shows a gray wolf. On Monday, May 6, 2024, a judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by animal rights activists seeking to invalidate Wisconsin’s new wolf management plan. (Gary Kramer/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, via AP, File)
The lawsuit alleges that although a quorum of board members was not present at any of the meetings, a sufficient number of board members attended to affect the plan changes in violation of the state Open Meetings Act. insisted.
The judge said the open meetings law did not apply to the meeting in question because there were not enough directors present to constitute a meeting.
Mr. Elke also denied allegations of due process and administrative procedure violations. The judge also rejected claims by the Great Lakes Wildlife Alliance that comments were ignored during the development of the wolf plan.
The group has not cited any examples to support its discrimination claims, Elke said. The judge said allowing people to claim they were discriminated against means anyone can make such a claim when a government agency does something they don’t like.
“This makes no sense to me and would result in government operations coming to a halt,” the judge said.
Susan Bradford, an attorney for the Great Lakes Wildlife Alliance, asked the judge to reconsider the ruling. The judge denied the request. Bradford said after the hearing that he was considering whether the group would appeal.
Farmers in northern Wisconsin have long complained that wolf numbers are growing too quickly and preying on livestock. Hunters say wolves are decimating deer populations across the northern tip of the state. Conservationists say wolves are not yet firmly established in Wisconsin and need protection.
The DNR board adopted a wolf management plan in October. It recommends keeping the state’s wolf population at about 1,000, but does not set a hard limit. The plan instead recommends allowing the population to grow or decline at certain numerical thresholds.
State wildlife officials say the lack of strict restrictions gives the DNR more flexibility in managing the species, allows local wolf packs to fluctuate, and allows wolf populations to grow in the coming years. “This increases the chances of sustaining wolf populations over time,” he said.
Hunting advocates support setting population limits, saying without targets both wolves and humans will remain unprotected. Conservation groups opposed the provisions regarding how the DNR would respond to specific population ranges in different regions of the state.
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Last year, a federal judge put gray wolves back on the endangered species list in 48 lower states, making hunting them illegal and restricting farmers to non-lethal management methods such as fencing livestock or using guard dogs. The DNR has updated its wolf management plan in case wolves are removed from the list and hunting can resume.
Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to remove wolves from the endangered species list, but the bill is likely to die due to opposition from the Biden administration. Republicans in the Wisconsin General Assembly passed a bill mandating specific population goals, but Democratic Gov. Tony Evers vetoed it.
