Wolf,
negatively affected by interactions with wolves and relying on scientific research and data to inform management decisions. The revised version also maintains an emphasis on ongoing wolf population monitoring and collaboration with other agencies, Tribal Nations, stakeholder groups and the public. Additionally, the revised draft plan continues to recognize the ecological benefits and cultural importance of wolves to the people of Wisconsin.
Based on the public’s feedback, the revised draft maintains its recommendations intended to improve wolf harvest season implementation, such as a shortened harvest registration time and issuing zone-specific licenses. It also better describes how future wolf harvest quotas are recommended to be developed and allocated across management zones. This revision also preserved the updated wolf management zones and subzones, with one boundary modification made.
Other aspects of November’s draft plan have been strengthened in the revised draft plan through the public’s feedback. A common area of concern centered around expectations and uncertainty of future wolf population sizes when there is no numeric population goal. The plan continues to recommend an adaptive management framework instead of a numeric population goal. However, the updated plan provides greater clarity on a projected population range based on the current management objectives. The revised draft plan also discusses how under this plan, natural wolf population dynamics and future wolf harvest levels are expected to maintain statewide wolf abundance at levels comparable to recent years (overwinter estimates of approximately 800 to 1,200 wolves), while also allowing for fluctuations in local wolf densities as necessary to achieve management objectives.
Other additions in the revised draft plan are intended to strengthen transparency and clarify misconceptions evident in the comments, including the clearer goal statement (reflected above), an improved executive summary to provide a concise description of the plan's vision and actions, and more specific metrics developed to help gauge the success of management actions.
A draft copy of the full revised 2023 Wolf Management Plan is available on the DNR's Wolf Management Plan webpage at dnr.wi.gov/topic/wildlifehabitat/ wolfmanagementplan. The DNR recommends that the public read the executive summary for a more concise overview of the revised draft plan before reading the rest of the plan.
