Midwest
Wisconsin judge dismisses lawsuit challenging state's new wolf management plan
A lawsuit filed by animal welfare advocates seeking to invalidate Wisconsin’s new wolf management plan was dismissed by a judge on Monday.
Dane County Circuit Judge Stephen Ehlke threw out the case that accused Wisconsin wildlife officials of violating the state’s open meetings law and disregarding comments from wolf researchers and supporters, reflecting how contentious the debate over wolf management has become in the state.
WISCONSIN DNR DEFENDS NO POPULATION CAP IN WOLF MANAGEMENT PLAN
Ehlke ruled from the bench, granting a motion to dismiss filed by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and its board. The lawsuit was filed by the Great Lakes Wildlife Alliance, also known as Friends of the Wisconsin Wolf & Wildlife.
The lawsuit alleged that Department of Natural Resources policy board members collected comments on the wolf management plan from interest groups it favored even after the public comment period ended.
The lawsuit focused on three private discussions attended by members of the board hosted by the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation, the Wisconsin Association of Sporting Dogs, and Wisconsin Wolf Facts.
This photo provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service shows a gray wolf, April 18, 2008. A judge on Monday, May 6, 2024, dismissed a lawsuit filed by animal welfare advocates seeking to invalidate Wisconsin’s new wolf management plan. (Gary Kramer/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service via AP, File)
The lawsuit alleged that even though a quorum of board members didn’t attend any of the meetings, enough of them participated to influence changes to the plan in violation of the state open meetings law.
The judge said the open meetings law did not apply to the meetings in question because there was not a sufficient number of board members present to constitute a meeting.
Ehlke also rejected allegations of due process and administrative procedure violations. The judge also rejected arguments that comments by Great Lakes Wildlife Alliance were ignored during formation of the wolf plan.
The group didn’t cite any case to back up their discrimination claims, Ehlke said. Allowing them to allege that they were discriminated against would mean that anyone could make that argument when a governmental body does something they don’t like, the judge said.
“This makes no sense to me and would cause governmental operations to grind to a halt,” the judge said.
Susann Bradford, attorney for the Great Lakes Wildlife Alliance, asked the judge to reconsider the ruling. The judge denied that request. Bradford said after the hearing that the group was reviewing whether to file an appeal.
Farmers in northern Wisconsin have complained for years that the wolf population is multiplying too quickly and preying on their livestock. Hunters say wolves are devastating the deer population across the northern reaches of the state. Conservationists argue that wolves have yet to firmly establish themselves in Wisconsin and need protection.
The DNR’s board adopted the wolf management plan in October. It recommends maintaining the statewide population at about 1,000 wolves but doesn’t set a hard limit. The plan instead recommends allowing the population to grow or decline at certain numerical thresholds.
State wildlife officials have said a lack of a hard limit gives the DNR more flexibility to manage the species, allows local wolf packs to fluctuate and gives the population a better chance at maintaining wolf abundance for years to come.
Hunting advocates support setting a population limit, saying the lack of a goal leaves both wolves and people unprotected. Conservation groups opposed a provision related to how the DNR would respond to certain population ranges in different parts of the state.
Last year, a federal judge placed gray wolves in the lower 48 states back on the endangered species list, making hunting illegal and limiting farmers to nonlethal control methods, such as fencing in livestock or using guard dogs. The DNR updated its wolf management plan in case wolves are removed from the list and hunting can resume.
The U.S. House passed a bill last week to take wolves off the endangered species list, but it is likely doomed under opposition from the Biden administration. Republicans in the Wisconsin Legislature passed a bill to require setting a specific population goal, but Democratic Gov. Tony Evers vetoed it.
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A new Democrat has announced he’ll challenge Republican U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil for Wisconsin’s 1st Congressional District in southeastern Wisconsin.
And while many national Democrats have been focused on flipping Wisconsin’s sharply competitive 3rd District, in the western part of the state, Milwaukee Alder Peter Burgelis said in his announcement Sunday that he thinks Steil’s district is flippable, too.
“We need a candidate who can get national attention, national money to counteract what Bryan Steil and his billionaire buddies are going to put in the race,” Burgelis said, announcing his bid on WISN-TV’s UpFront.
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Burgelis joins a crowded Democratic primary with no clear frontrunner, up against Steil, who has held the seat since 2019 and is a notedly successful fundraiser.
And the district has been in Republican hands for three decades, and notably held by former House Speaker Paul Ryan for 20 years.
But the district has changed shape since Steil first took office. In new congressional maps drawn by Gov. Tony Evers as part of a redistricting lawsuit in 2022, the district became more competitive.
It lost parts of Milwaukee’s conservative suburbs in Waukesha County, and gained ground around Democratic-leaning Janesville and Beloit. Now, it covers Racine and Kenosha counties, most of Walworth County, part of Rock County and a sliver of southern Milwaukee County.
Burgelis stands out from the current crop of Democratic hopefuls, including union nurse Mitchell Berman and Racine ironworker Randy Bryce, in part because he has held elected office before.
Still, it’s a longshot for a Democrat to unseat Steil, said Anthony Chergosky, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.
“It would take a very good year for Democrats, plus a lot of money and the right candidate with the right message to be able to defeat Congressman Steil,” said Chergosky.
The district is on the list of 44 Congressional seats nationwide being targeted by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in a quest to flip the U.S. House this November. But according to the Cook Political Report, it leans Republican.
By comparison, the battle for western Wisconsin’s 3rd District is considered a toss-up — and has sparked the national fundraising numbers to match.
And according to Chergosky, Steil is a particularly strong candidate.
“He is an excellent campaigner. He has a full campaign war chest, and his approach to politics seems to resonate fairly well — or better, quite well — with the people in that region,” said Chergosky. “So if the bottom truly does fall out for Republicans, then I can imagine this district becoming competitive, but it would take a truly disastrous cycle for the GOP for Congressman Steil to be in serious jeopardy.”
Back in southeastern Wisconsin, Burgelis starts out with one big factor against him: he doesn’t currently live in the district. The Wisconsin Republican Party quickly seized on that fact Sunday, releasing a statement saying Burgelis will be more focused on Milwaukee than on 1st District constituents.
“Southeast Wisconsin can’t afford an out-of-district Milwaukee politician like Peter Burgelis,” stated WisGOP Spokesperson Anika Rickard. “He needs to decide who he wants to represent: the people of Milwaukee, where he lives and serves as alderman, or the hardworking families of the 1st District, where he has never lived.”
Burgelis responded to that critique, saying that his message of affordability will resonate anywhere.
“Voters don’t care where you live or what the driver’s license address is in my wallet. Voters care where you stand,” he said.
Burgelis has served on Milwaukee’s Common Council since 2024, and is the first openly LGBTQ+ alder. Before that, he was on the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors, during which time he was reportedly chastised for the way he treated female staffers.
Wisconsin Public Radio, © Copyright 2026, Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and Wisconsin Educational Communications Board.
Minnesota Rep. Tom Emmer details his experience at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting on FOX 9’s All Day, from the first “distinct shots” to the moment he determined it was a “dangerous situation.”
INDIANAPOLIS (Gray News) – A woman died after falling about 50 feet from an outer curb at the Indianapolis International Airport, police confirmed.
Indianapolis Airport Police said the fall happened around 12:16 p.m. Saturday.
A security camera captured the woman falling from the outer curb of Upper Terminal Drive to a grassy area below. The fall was about 50 feet.
Several emergency departments responded, but after half an hour, she was pronounced dead by a doctor via telephone.
By Monday afternoon, police were still investigating. The woman’s identity has not yet been released.
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