MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin will resume its wolf season next November after the animal is dropped from the federal endangered species list, the state announced Friday.
The Department of Natural Resources said wolf season will begin Nov. 6. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced last month that it would delist gray wolves, citing thriving populations in the western Great Lakes region, Rocky Mountains and Pacific Northwest.
Wisconsin law called for annual hunting and trapping seasons to resume if and when the wolf lost federal protection.
The DNR said Wisconsin has at least 1,034 wolves, mostly in the northern third and central forest region of the state. The agency promised to “work collaboratively and transparently” to create a new wolf management plan that sustains the population.
Wolves were wiped out across most of the U.S. by the 1930s under government-sponsored poisoning and trapping campaigns. A remnant population in the western Great Lakes region has since expanded to some 4,400 animals in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Read more Great Lakes wolf news on Great Lakes Now:
Groups fight to keep gray wolf protections for most of US
Trump officials end gray wolf protections across most of US
The Age of Nature: Building understanding of the complexity of restoration efforts
Mapping “The Age of Nature”: Visit locations in the new PBS series and their Great Lakes connections
Relocated Isle Royale wolves form groups, reduce moose herd
Featured image: These images taken in late September 2019 from a remote camera and provided by the National Park Service and the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, show two wolf pups on Isle Royale National Park in Michigan. (National Park Service and State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry via AP)
