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DELIST GRAY WOLF. ThEY HAVE RECOVERED
Delist the Wolves. They have Recovered
By Lane Ruhland
Deer hunting in Wisconsin is in jeopardy. Anti-wolf hunting advocates, and their organizations, time and again have convinced activist judges in California and Washington D.C. to keep the wolf on the Endangered Species list. They have thwarted any efforts to responsibly manage the wolf population in Wisconsin and our deer population is suffering as a result.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently asked an appeals court to return to a Trump-era rule which would delist the gray wolf. But that does not mean Wisconsin will see a wolf hunt. First, the appeals court must agree over the objection of groups like the Sierra Club, Humane Society and the Center of Biological Diversity – the very groups the judge sided with in the first place. Then, if the judge decides to side with the Service, there will likely be another lawsuit filed in another court to relist the wolf. Finally, if a court agrees to delist the wolf Wisconsin must rely on its DNR to actually implement the wolf hunt – something some would see as nearly impossible given its reluctance to do so in the past.
This action by the Service was almost certainly spurred by the tireless work of Congressman Tom Tiffany. Thanks to leadership by Congressman Tom Tiffany, much light has been shed on the realities of the wolf population in Wisconsin and the absolute conservation travesty that has been inflicted upon the state. Even with this move by the Service, much work remains. Thankfully, Congressman Tiffany has taken action long called for by the citizens of Wisconsin. He recently introduced the Trust the Science Act, which would permanently delist the gray wolf in the lower 48. It must pass to protect our farmers, pet owners and our deer hunting heritage.
The move in court by the Service is not enough. Without a law change at both the federal and state level it is almost impossible that we will ever see the gray wolf permanently delisted under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), despite sound science demonstrating the wolf has recovered. Congressman Tiffany correctly likened the ESA to the Hotel California – you may enter, but you may never leave. The underlying goal of the ESA is to bring a species to a point where it no longer needs the protection of the ESA. Keeping a species on the list simply because of emotional and political opposition to lethal management practices ignores the harm of an unmanaged, overpopulated, predator group. Because the wolf continues to be wrongfully included on the Endangered Species List, funds that might otherwise go to protect species who need it are diverted to the wolf.
Wolves do not exist in a vacuum. They live in locations with other species, including humans, and domestic animals – like pets and livestock. When lethal predator management practices are prohibited, there are consequences. The significant increase in wolf numbers over the past few decades and no ability to manage the population via lethal means, has led to additional wolf conflicts. For example, in Wisconsin, wolf complaints have skyrocketed since 2014, (the last wolf hunting season prior to Wisconsin’s 2021 hunt), seeing increases as high as 70%.
What anti-wolf hunting advocates do not understand is these conflicts are not just numbers. They see pictures of these beautiful creatures and liken them to their own pets, eliciting an emotional reaction. But imagine how their worldview might be shaken if they saw their actual pet mauled to death by a wolf. What if they had to face what so many do in Wisconsin?
Just this year the Coron family in Woodruff suffered an unimaginable tragedy when a gray wolf emerged from the woods near their house and took their dog right before their eyes. Fearing someone’s child could be next, the Coron family is demanding action by lawmakers to do something about this problem. The Corons are not alone. Just in 2024 the Wisconsin DNR has confirmed four other pets killed by wolves.
Farmers are suffering the consequences of out-of-control wolf populations as well. Farmers have had to take matters into their own hands, constructing costly anti-predatory fencing for their farms. These costs of protective fencing coupled with lower milk production brought on by stress of the livestock all mean higher costs for consumers. Each depredation is a striking blow to a farmer’s livelihood or is the trauma of the violent death of a family pet.
Fortunately, groups like Hunter Nation are demanding action. Hunter Nation is your voice in Congress, the statehouses and the courtroom. When the wolf was delisted in 2020, the Wisconsin DNR intended to abdicate its duty to hold a hunt. I was honored to represent Hunter Nation in 2021 in its lawsuit against the Department of Natural Resources that led to the first wolf hunt in Wisconsin since 2014. That hunt was nothing but a tremendous success and further proof that the wolf population was out of control. In fact, the quota set for that hunt was met less than 60 hours after opening.
Unsurprisingly, following that successful hunt, Wisconsin hunters were eviscerated (wrongly) by the media. The media decried the hunt as an all-out slaughter that, according to them, led to a wolf harvest over two times as high as the sustainable quota set. That was absolutely false. In fact, the wolf harvest only exceeded the quota by approximately 20 wolves, or 10% over the set quota. According to the Wisconsin DNR, the wolf population remains “healthy and secure.” The imagery conjured up by the media of an all-out bloodbath could not be further from the truth.
That same judicial activism reared its ugly head again in 2022. Following a federal court order, and over the legal objections of Hunter Nation and the National Rifle Association, the wolf was re-listed in February of 2022. Yet again, activist judges untouched by the consequences of wolf mismanagement have tied the hands of Wisconsinites.
“In a civilized and cultivated country, wild animals only continue to exist at all when preserved by sportsmen…[t]he excellent people who protest against all hunting, and consider sportsmen as enemies of wildlife are ignorant of the fact that in reality the genuine sportsman is by all odds the most important factor in keeping the larger and more valuable wild creatures from total extermination.”
- President Theodore Roosevelt
Those words were absolutely true when President Roosevelt first uttered them, and they are just as true now. It is a truth that is inconvenient for activists who fight to keep the wolf on the Endangered Species List. When a hunter harvests a wolf in a well-managed wolf hunt, she protects her livestock, her pets, and the very ecosystem in which she exists. Her harvest ensures healthy animal herds and maintains the delicate balance of predator versus prey. But when anti-wolf hunting activists succeed, they jeopardize entire species, including the species they proclaim to protect.
Permanently delist the wolves, they have recovered.
Call your legislators and tell anyone who will listen. It is time to delist the wolf. It is simple, trust the (real) science, not the politically charged, factually deficient arguments of anti-wolf hunting activists. For they are the real enemies of the wolf.
About the Author
Lane Ruhland is an experienced, well-respected lawyer and advocate for the Second Amendment and hunting and property rights. She has dedicated her career to giving a voice and helping defend the Second Amendment, pro-freedom and pro-hunting causes by helping her clients organize and fight back against government overreach. She has represented Hunter Nation in state and federal court to fight for members’ ability to manage the wolf population. She is a Life Member of the National Rifle Association, Vice President of the Wisconsin Firearm Owners, and Sustaining Member of Hunter Nation. She is a shooter and hunter and is currently seeking election to the NRA Board of Directors in 2025.
Most importantly, she is a mother of two young boys (both NRA Life Members) and wife to a lifelong hunter (another NRA Life Member). She is dedicated and passionate about protecting the Second Amendment to ensure her children and all Americans continue to live in a free and safe United States of America.