Rule-Making Notices
Notice of Hearing
Natural Resources
Fish, Game, etc., Chs.
NR 1—
(DNR # WM-09-12(E))
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to
Section 21 of 2011 ACT 169, ss.
227.11(2), and
227.24 Stats., interpreting 2011 ACT 169 and ss.
29.014, and
29.885, Wis. Stats., the Department of Natural Resources will hold public hearings on revisions to chs.
NR 10,
12, and
19 Wis. Adm. Code, relating to the wolf hunting and trapping season, regulations, and a depredation program. This emergency order took effect upon publication in the official state paper on August 18, 2012.
Hearing Information
Date: Monday, October 29, 2012
Time: 2:00 p.m.
Location: Natural Resources State Office Building
(GEF-2)
Room G09
101 South Webster St.
Madison, WI 53707
Accessibility
Pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act, reasonable accommodations, including the provision of informational material in an alternative format, will be provided for qualified individuals with disabilities upon request. Please call Scott Loomans at (608) 267-2452 with specific information on your request at least 10 days before the date of the scheduled hearing.
Written Comments and Copy of Rule
The proposed rule and fiscal estimate may be reviewed and comments electronically submitted at the following Internet site:
http://adminrules.wisconsin.gov. Written comments on the proposed rule may be submitted via U.S. mail to Mr. Scott Loomans, Bureau of Wildlife Management, P.O. Box 7921, Madison, WI 53707 or by email to
scott.loomans@ wisconsin.gov. Comments may be submitted until October 29, 2012. Written comments whether submitted electronically or by U.S. mail will have the same weight and effect as oral statements presented at the public hearings. A personal copy of the proposed rule and fiscal estimate may be obtained from Mr. Loomans.
Plain Language Analysis
The Bureau of Wildlife Management recommends promulgating rules modifying chapters NR 10, 12 and 19 Wis. Admin. Code related to the wolf hunting and trapping season and regulations and a depredation program.
Sections 1, 3 to 5, and 7 contribute to defining “reservation wolf" pack for the purposes of establishing wolf harvest quotas.
Section 2 defines “point of kill", a term used to describe when a flashlight can legally be used at night while hunting species for which there are no hunting hour restrictions.
Section 6 clarifies, in the definition, that wolves are not small game.
Sections 8 and 30 define and establish Wolf Harvesting Zones.
Section 9 locates the statutorily established wolf hunting and trapping season dates in the table where other season dates are established.
Sections 10 and 44 strike wolves from the list of protected species for which hunting and trapping seasons are not established and relocates a provision allowing landowners, lessees and occupants of lands to kill nuisance wolves in certain situations.
Sections 11 and 12 establish normal daytime hours for hunting wolves but eliminates hunting hour restrictions for the portion of the wolf season beginning on the day following the traditional 9-day November firearm deer season each year.
Section 13 prohibits the use of radio telemetry receivers to aid in locating wolves for any purpose unless specifically authorized by the department.
Sections 14 to 18 establish that baiting is allowed as a method of hunting wolves and the conditions under which bait may be placed for hunting wolves.
Section 19 establishes special regulations for hunting wolves at night including a prohibition of using dogs at night. This section also establishes regulations related to dog tags, identification, and the number of dogs that may be used.
Section 20 updates code language for consistency with 2011 ACT 168 and 2011 ACT 169 regarding the allowed types of firearms, ammunition, and crossbow use for hunting wolves.
Section 21 prohibits the use of steel jawed foothold traps with a jaw spread of greater than seven inches for non-water sets during the early part of the wolf trapping season to reduce the incidental capture of certain non-target species.
Sections 22 and 23 establish a period during the wolf hunting and trapping season when cable restraints may be used in order to reduce the incidental capture of non-target species and create standards for the use of cable restraints placed to capture wolves.
Section 24 allows the possession and retention of coyotes, foxes, and bobcat captured incidentally to wolf trapping in cable restraints that are not otherwise legal to place for coyotes or bobcat, if the respective season is open and the person has an valid unfilled permit and tag, in the case of an incidental bobcat.
Section 25 establishes that only a firearm may be used as a method of dispatching a live wolf that has been captured in a trap or cable restraint.
Section 26 and 27 establish that a wolf harvesting license is required to hunt or trap wolves and create guidelines and criteria that must be considered by the department when establishing harvest quotas and issuing permits.
Section 28 explains how applications for wolf harvesting licenses are made and successful applicants are selected. This Section also establishes the manner for tagging, reporting and registering harvested wolves with the department. Finally, this section creates language that is consistent with 2011 ACT 169 regarding a process for closing the wolf hunting and trapping seasons.
Section 29 establishes that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service may allow wolf hunting at the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge. This does not require the service to allow wolf hunting. Trapping furbearers such as wolves is already possible under current rules, at the service's discretion.
Sections 31 to 34 re-establish, following delisting of the species, that department authorization is required to remove wolves causing damage or which constitute a nuisance and establish conditions and requirements for removal.
Section 35 clarifies that dogs may not be used to pursue wolves under a wolf damage shooting permit unless specifically authorized by the department, similar to permits issued for bear damage.
Sections 36 to 43 establish a wolf depredation program that is in effect only at times when wolves are not listed as a threatened or endangered species.
Summary of, and Comparison with, Existing or Proposed Federal Regulations
These state rules and statutes do not relieve individuals from the restrictions, requirements and conditions of federal statutes and regulations.
Wolves are currently a state managed species. The US Department of Interior announced in December, 2011 that gray wolf populations in the Great Lakes region have recovered and no longer require the protection of the Endangered Species Act (EAS). The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published a final rule in the Federal Register that removed wolves in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin, and in portions of adjoining states, from the list of endangered and threatened wildlife and plants. The rule went into effect on January 27, 2012.
The states of Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan are required to monitor wolf populations for at least five years to ensure the species continues to thrive. If it appears, at any time, that the gray wolf cannot sustain itself without the protections of the ESA, the service can initiate the listing process, including emergency listing.
Comparison with Rules in Adjacent States
The only adjacent state that has established a wolf hunting and trapping season is Minnesota. Michigan is likely to allow hunting or trapping in the future but has not established a season framework that can be evaluated at this time.
Minnesota will allow hunting and trapping, but not with the assistance of dogs, for the first time in 2012. The application fee will be $5.00 and the harvest permit will cost $50.00. Minnesota will issue 6,000 harvest permits with the intention of harvesting a quota of 400 wolves from a population of approximately 3,000 animals. Because 2012 will be Minnesota's first wolf hunting and trapping season, they have no experience with their season framework.
Summary of Factual Data and Analytical Methodologies
This rule proposal will guide management activities by the department, establish regulations that apply to individual hunters and trappers, and establish a wolf depredation program. In all cases, these rule proposals are consistent with existing management guidelines and regulations for other species that are currently hunted or trapped in Wisconsin. The wolf depredation program is similar to and consistent with the existing program for gray wolves when they are listed as threatened or endangered and the wildlife damage, claims and abatement program.
The proposal creates a definition of “reservation wolf packs" for the purposes of establishing wolf harvest quotas. The department proposes not including wolves on tribal lands when establishing quotas.
This rule establishes a definition of the term “point of kill". The definition is important because the term describes when a flashlight can legally be used at night while hunting and when a light may not be used because shining while in possession of a firearm is not legal. This definition is consistent with past department policy.
With the removal of endangered and threatened species protections for wolves, they will automatically be classified as small game unless the exemption in SECTION 2 of this rule is created. Small game is not the appropriate designation for wolves because it will not be legal to hunt them with a license that authorizes hunting of small game, such as an archery, small game, sports, patrons or non-resident fur-bearer license.
This proposal establishes that hybridized variations of true wolves are also considered to be wolves. This broad definition resolves potential questions about the use of harvesting licenses and eligibility for the depredation program when animals that appear not to be true wolves are involved.
This rule proposal establishes wolf harvesting zones. The department will establish harvest quotas for each zone and hunters and trappers are allowed to pursue wolves only in the zone indicated on the license. Under the rule, the department will have the ability to list more than one zone or subzone on a license, providing flexibility for hunters if one zone they intended to hunt is closed early. An alternative might be to allow hunters to obtain a new license with a new zone designation when the season in a hunter's original zone choice is closed early. Managing harvest by the use of zones allows harvest to be focused in certain locations or regions for purposes such as reducing incidents of wolf depredation or keeping populations low in areas determined not suitable for wolves. Zones can also be used to decrease harvest pressure in certain areas where it is needed to maintain or rebuild populations in suitable habitat. The ability to focus harvest pressure allows managers to safely maximize hunting opportunity. However, geographically smaller zones have the disadvantages of regulatory complexity and reducing the area available to individual hunters and trappers. Larger zones reduce the amount of fine tuning of management that is possible. The wolf harvesting zones in this proposal represent a compromise that takes advantage of the opportunity to utilize zones but minimizes the number of zones.
This rule making will establish that harvest quotas for wolves will be based in part on the wolf population, population trends and established population goals. The number of permits issued to reach a harvest quota will be based in part on the trends of hunter and trapper success rates and is consistent with the department's harvest management strategy for other species. In establishing harvest permit levels, the department will also consider the likelihood of a season being open for its entire allotted number of days.
A final consideration will be managing wolf conflict with agriculture and land use in an area, and maintaining a sustainable population in core habitat areas. For wolves, a population goal at which public harvest and proactive control could occur is currently, and will continue to be, established in a species management plan prepared by the department and approved by the Natural Resources Board.
Requiring reporting or registration of individual animals harvested by hunters and trappers is a commonly used method of gathering information for harvest management, population monitoring, and to aid in enforcing regulations. Requirements of this rule will provide the department with more timely harvest information than is possible with registration requirements for some other species because there are two required actions that a successful hunter or trapper needs to make. First, this rule requires a hunter or trapper to report harvest by phone or other method authorized by the department within 24 hours of the harvest, allowing the department to monitor harvest activity as it occurs during the season. If reporting information indicates that the harvest quota for wolves has or or will be met, the department will use this information to implement an early season closure to prevent exceeding the harvest quota in a particular zone. Similar reporting requirements are already in place for bobcat and Canada geese, two other species for which the department possesses emergency season closure authority.
There is an additional requirement to present wolf carcasses and pelts to the department for inspection and registration purposes at a later time. At registration, the department will collect samples from carcasses that can be used to determine age and reproductive information and for health monitoring of the animals. Detailed information on the location of harvest will also be collected. The time of registration is when registration tags will be issued indicating that the animal has been registered with the department and is now the property of the hunter or trapper. Many hunters and trappers will be familiar with these requirements because they are similar or identical to other species that are currently hunted or trapped such as bear, bobcat, otter, fisher, and deer.
The department anticipates that compliance with reporting and registration requirements will be good. Wolf hunters and trappers will have significant incentive to report and register in order to obtain the state registration tag that allows possession, transfer and sale of the wolf pelt or carcass. Possessing the attached registration tag is also necessary in order to obtain the services of a taxidermist or tannery.
Another important feature of tagging, transportation, and registration requirements are that they are a primary way of enforcing harvest regulations and preventing illegal harvest. Effective enforcement of harvest restrictions by conservation wardens and tribal wardens is intended to protect the wolf population overall and also preserves opportunities for legal harvest. Federal involvement can occur when illegally killed wolves are transported across state lines or killed on federal lands (National Park Service land, National Wildlife Refuges, National Forests, Federal military bases, or Indian reservations).
A number of wolves have been captured and fitted with radio telemetry gear by the department for research purposes. Under the proposal, the use of radio telemetry gear for locating wolves will be prohibited unless specifically authorized by the department. The prohibition would apply to locating wolves for any purpose. People who hunt with the aid of dogs and train hunting dogs also commonly use this technology for monitoring their dogs. Individuals using dogs are specifically exempted from the prohibition of possessing radio telemetry gear as long as it is not used to locate wolves that are fitted with transmitters. Harvest of a collared wolf is legal.
This rule proposal establishes regulations on the use of bait for hunting, firearm and crossbow use, and hunting hours. Many of these regulations are similar to provisions established in statute and are reproduced in administrative code to assure enforceability of the statutory provisions and to increase ch.
NR 10's usefulness to department staff and the public. Also under this proposal, baiting for wolves would be allowed beginning on the day after bear season closes and continuing through the close of the wolf season in a zone. Regulations for baiting in this proposal are similar in many respects to current bear baiting regulations. For hunting wolves statewide, 10 gallons of bait is allowed and it must be covered to prevent access by deer. Additionally, it will be legal to hunt wolves over baits that were lawfully placed for hunting deer. Similar to the restrictions on hunting deer and bear, animal parts and by-products are not allowed as bait for hunting wolves, as established in the ACT.
Current statute establishes that it is illegal to use baits containing poison of any description where it might cause the destruction of wild animals. This proposal creates a similar provision where baiting regulations are established in administrative code and which is specific to canine animals. Doing so locates more of the baiting regulations in one place, for convenience and rule use ability. It also recognizes that there are food substances which are known to be toxic to canines and may not be used in a way that will poison canine animals.
Meat or other animal parts and by-products can be used as bait for trapping, as they are not prohibited by the ACT, and no rule change regarding the use of baits for trapping is required or proposed in this order. Allowing the use of meat or other animal parts and by-products as bait for trapping may be important to prevent the incidental capture of non-target species such as deer when using cable restraints. The disposal of the carcasses of domestic animals is regulated by the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection and they are not legal for use as bait for trapping wolves.
Hunting at night is authorized under ACT 169 and this rulemaking, however, the rule addresses safety concerns about hunting in the dark with large caliber rifles and shotguns shooting slugs or buckshot by reducing the likelihood that someone will shoot a firearm without being certain of what lies beyond their target. By requiring that a person hunt from a stationary position and prohibiting hunting with hounds at night, shooting opportunities are more likely to occur in directions where the hunter has been able to anticipate and avoid possible unsafe shooting scenarios. It is anticipated that this extra precaution will help assure public safety.
This proposal will restrict the size of steel jawed traps not placed as water sets when used during the early part of the wolf season, through November 30, from a maximum jaw spread of 8 inches to a maximum of 7 inches. This is intended to prevent the incidental catch and retention of bears at times when they are normally still active. This rule would establish regulations on the allowable times for use and the dimensions and mechanical requirements of cable restraints to capture wolves. A cable restraint is a device used for restraining furbearers without injuring them which consists of a non-spring activated galvanized aircraft cable which includes a relaxing mechanical lock, stops, and swivel set in a non-entanglement manner. Cable restraints meeting certain specifications are currently legal for use at certain times for fox, coyote and bobcat. Under this proposal, cable restraint use for wolves is restricted to times when black bears are normally not active to prevent incidental capture and retention of bears.
