UPDATE: SPORTSMEN'S ALLIANCE FILES INTENT TO SUE FWS, WBHA JOINS AS PLAINTIFF
November 10, 2023
The Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation (SAF) filed a notice of its intent to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today, Nov. 10, for the agency’s failure to respond to SAF’s two gray wolf petitions. WBHA has joined as a plaintiff and has contributed to the effort.
Please read the Sportsmen’s Alliance Press Release Here.
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ORIGINAL POST: WBHA FILES DUAL-PETITION WITH U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE ON THE DELISTING OF WOLVES
June 30, 2023
The Wisconsin Bear Hunters Association (WBHA) joined forces with other national and midwest groups to petition the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to delist gray wolves in the Great Lakes Region.
WBHA was joined in this effort by the Sportsmen’s Alliance, the Michigan Bear Hunters Association, and the Upper Peninsula Bear Houndsmen Association.
Carl Schoettel, President of the Wisconsin Bear Hunters Association made the following statement:
"Wisconsin's Bear Hunters are firm in our conviction that our wolf population has recovered and must be managed responsibly by our state's Department of Natural Resources. These petitions ask the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to do what it has done several times in the past – delist wolves as they have fully recovered in our state. The science overwhelmingly supports this move but unfortunately, past attempts to delist wolves have been challenged by animal-extremist groups who have never set foot in Wisconsin and are driven by a dangerous ideology, not science. These petitions put us on a path to right the wrongs perpetrated on Wisconsin’s citizens and our wildlife by these out-of-touch extremists."
The petitions hope to return wolf population management to the states by delisting gray wolves within the Western Great Lakes District Population Segment in Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin and request the FWS exercise specific management options on remnant wolf populations outside of the area and in the Northern Rocky Mountain District Population Segment as well.
“WBHA members are putting our money where our mouth is,” continued Schoettel. “We have some of the nation’s best attorneys on hunting and the endangered species act working for us on this effort.”
For over 50 years the Wisconsin Bear Hunters Association has been at the forefront of protecting the rights of sportsmen and sportswomen in Wisconsin, as well promoting youth hunting, conservation and sound wildlife management.
The Sportsmen’s Alliance protects and defends America’s wildlife conservation programs and the pursuits – hunting, fishing and trapping – that generate the money to pay for them. Please read the Sportsmen’s Alliance Press Release Here.
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