MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Conservationists pushed back Wednesday against a bill that would end state wolf management efforts and bar state police from investigating wolf poaching, saying the measure will open the door to indiscriminate wolf hunts and won’t help get the animals off the federal endangered species list. The bill will create a perception that hunting wolves is permissible even though the practice would remain illegal under both state and federal law, they said during an Assembly natural resources committee hearing. And they warned that wolf advocacy groups will seize on the legislation to argue to Congress that Wisconsin can’t manage wolves and the animals should remain on the endangered species list. “I am here because (the bill) is so unsound that it is an affront to our Wisconsin conservation tradition and invites a disrespect for law enforcement officers and the rule of law,” environmental attorney Jodi Habush Sinykin said. “By barring state scientific research and basic population monitoring, (the bill) takes Wisconsin back 100 years, to a time when fear and ignorance determined our approach to wildlife.” Supporters fought back, saying the state needs to send a clear message to the federal government that it’s well past time to delist Wisconsin wolves. The population is growing and farmers are suffering attacks on their livestock, they said.
