The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty has filed a lawsuit against the state Department of Natural Resources.
WILL deputy counsel Anthony LoCoco said the agency needs to hold a gray wolf hunting or trapping season this winter.
“The Wisconsin DNR does not have the discretion to determine whether to follow state law when it comes to scheduling a gray wolf hunt,” said Anthony LoCoco, WILL deputy counsel.https://t.co/Hle8lGD1jp
— WILL (@WILawLiberty) February 3, 2021
“The legislature’s already addressed the issue. It enacted statutes that say that so long as wolves aren’t listed on the federal or state endangered species list, there must be a hunt every year from November through February, period.”
The grey wolf was officially removed from the Endangered Species List, effective January 4. But last week the state Natural Resources took no action on an immediate hunt.
“Some people might say ‘well what’s the rush,'” LoCoco said. “I would respond to that what have they been doing for the three months since the wolf was actually delisted, and the two years since the federal government actually proposed delisting the wolf.”
The suit filed in Jefferson County Circuit Court on behalf of Hunter Nation Inc., a Kansas-based hunting advocacy group, claims the DNR violated state law and the state constitution’s guarantee of a right to hunt. A DNR spokesperson had no comment.