GLIN==> Partial Victory: NO WOLF HUNT FOR NOW

["List Manager" <glinpost@great-lakes.net>]

Posted on behalf of Billy Stern <billysun@chorus.net>

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Dear wolf activists:

Thank you for your letters, calls, e-mails, and meeting attendance. 
They clearly made an impact. The Wisconsin Natural Resources Board 
took wolf hunting out of the plan--but left it on the back burner. 
The draft they were voting on called for starting a public hunt when 
the population hit 350. They took out that language, but inserted a 
clause that allowed the stakeholders group (formed as part of the 
plan) to put the hunting plan back on the table at any of their 
annual reviews. Unfortunately the plan still have an artificial 
population limit of 350 (to be maintained by agency personal and 
occasional landowner control) and no core protection areas.

We did get a lot of media, who showed some real interest in the plan 
and the process. Overall, we really showed that the public was on our 
side. One of the agency people even said in a public interview that 
comments against the plan were running 99-1. What that means is that 
environmental groups have to get activated to get a member from each 
of their groups on this stakeholder group to keep it honest. We must 
keep a vigilant eye on the process and keep nipping the hunting weed 
at its root. We also must keep the issue in the public eye and heat 
it up again when the wolf population actually approaches 350. If, as 
expected, the wolves are having little impact on domestic livestock, 
we can raise a big ruckus and call for that limit to be eliminated, 
raising humanitarian, ecological and economic arguments to rally the 
public support.

For those of you in state, please write letters to your local papers 
supporting the wolf, and thanking the board for eliminating hunting, 
while reminding them about the remaining problems. For those of you 
from out of state, send thanks to the board and the Governor, and 
write to the major papers in Milwaukee and Madison. Out-of-state 
comments must have helped, as at least one state rep and one board 
member cited preserving Wisconsin's image as part of their opposition 
to the hunt.

Thanks again,
Kindly,
Billy
Billy Stern
GREEN
Midwest State Organizer
1121 University Ave.
Madison, WI  53715
PH (608) 294-6871
Fax (608) 294-9170
bstern@defenders.org

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