State Roundup: Does Wisconsin put enough emphasis on catching poachers?

Outdoor News recently ran a story from a Boone and Crockett Club research project that, at first cut, tells us as few as 4% to 5% of all fish and game poaching violations are discovered by wardens, reported by citizens, investigated and eventually adjudicated.

Now, this story just scratches the surface of that research work, and that project likely just scratches the surface of what’s actually happening in the field. But even if the Boone and Crockett Club is just partially correct with this research, there’s a lot of poaching going on out there. That makes me wonder if state natural resource agencies are putting enough emphasis on catching violators.

Wisconsin used to have a DNR Bureau of Law Enforcement. The name is now the DNR Public Safety and Resource Protection Division.

In early 2018 the DNR disbanded its park ranger staff that used to do most of the “safety” work in state parks and forests. That work was then shifted to our conservation wardens, who now spend much of their time patrolling state parks for illegal camping, noise violations, traffic violations and drug offenses. Some game wardens rarely leave the state parks to work in the field on fish and game violations.

More than a handful of retired game wardens who I’ve talked to over the last four or five years say the same thing: “This isn’t the DNR I worked for.”

I’m going to email a copy of the Boone and Crockett Club poaching report to Gov. Tony Evers, DNR Secretary Karen Hyun, DNR Public Safety and Resource Protection Division leaders and some state legislators. I’m not saying our game warden staff isn’t working hard at their assigned tasks, but maybe there is reason to look at shifting their efforts to more field work while reviving the former park ranger staff.

MORE COVERAGE FROM WISCONSIN OUTDOOR NEWS:

Wisconsin state campgrounds lacking ‘camper cabins’

PFAS-related consumption advisories issued for ducks, deer and fish in parts of Wisconsin

Persistence, big bucktails, and the right window can turn September into trophy muskie season

WISCONSIN TIMBER WOLVES ARE NOW SNATCHING CATS from the front porch.

That happened Aug. 31 in the town of Texas just north of the city of Wausau in Marathon County. A door bell camera captured video of the wolf within five feet of the home’s front door when it grabbed a 5-year-old orange female cat. The homeowners expressed concern for their safety and that of other pets to the DNR and USDA-Wildlife Services, according to the Wildlife Services report.

Wildlife Services staffers investigate wolf complaints for the DNR. This incident was confirmed as a level three human health and safety incident. I can’t tell you yet what parameters are covered by “level three.” I haven’t found it described anywhere as of the deadline for this issue.

I’m also getting word from readers of a man losing his dog to a wolf in his yard on Lake Le Tourneau near Oxbow in Price County, but I haven’t found a report on that one yet.

WISCONSIN VOLUNTEERS continue stepping to the fore for conservation and natural resource management. Take a look at the agenda for the Wednesday, Sept. 24, Natural Resources Board meeting in Madison.

The board is expected to accept seven donations from six groups that day of just under $850,000 for Crex Meadows, Driftless Region state natural areas, Kettle Moraine and Baraboo Hills natural areas, Belmont Mound Park, Yellowstone and Peninsula state parks. Most of the donations are less than $27,000, but the Friends of the Peninsula State Park group is donating $725,000 to complete the second phase of a project that includes 11 miles of trails. Good stuff.