Howl About Wolves - Wisconsin's Approval

I majorly disagree with Wisconsin's approval of a wolf hunt. I feel like we have worked too hard on bringing the wolf population back up to just go and have a wolf hunt this soon. Many hunters want to use dogs and risk putting them in danger of either getting hurt or killed. Also, the Wisconsin DNR really isn't even sure on how many wolves should be allowed to be hunted due to the fact that they only have neighboring states to base off of.

Wolves are not a harmful creature. They are majestic and mysterious animals that can play a major role in the environment. In the past one hundred years, there have only been two wolf attack fatalities, largely because they had become too habituated to people. People have to realize that wolves are a wild animal and that it's not okay to feed them and socialize with them. Farmers often feel wolves are a threat to their livestock, when in actuality, wolves "decrease livestock losses by keeping smaller predators like coyotes in check" (Wolves-Misunderstood). The majority of the blame for wolves socializing with society would be on society itself. We expand too much into the wilderness and think that it is acceptable to just take their home away. When cutting down the forests, we are taking away the security, homes, and food from the wolves. They then have to search elsewhere for food and that's when they begin to venture out into cities or kill livestock. This is not the wolves' fault. We need to realize that wolves can actually help the environment and in order for that to happen, we need to not take away their homes.

Wolves are very beneficial to the environment and surrounding habitats. One of the most important impacts they have on the environment is that they keep other species in check. They also help the vegetation to grow. The wolves' primary prey, the white-tailed deer, would over graze if there were no wolves to hunt them. This would then create barren areas of grass because that grass may not be replaced for two to three decades and soil erosion would then occur. With wolves keeping the deer population in check, it then allows for plants to flourish and an increase in biomass. This increase in biomass then leads to a successive increase in biodiversity in the environment as well (Wolves Can Help Restore Ecosystems). The existence of wolves in the same ecosystem also creates an "ecology of fear," so deer spend less time eating in one place. As a result, trees and shrubs come back and there's more biodiversity. Open fields become more vegetated, and the increase in biodiversity provides food for scavengers and influences the way that coyotes behave (Reintroducing Wolves into National Parks could Restore Ecosystems). It is made pretty obvious that the impact of wolves on the environment has many more pros than it does cons. With wolves, the environment can flourish and other species' populations are kept in check.

Since the mid-1970's, the Wisconsin DNR has been monitoring gray wolf populations, it was then that wolves were reintroduced to the area. Wolves were first put on the endangered species list and