Some state wildlife experts and even hunting proponents say Republicans may have over-reached last week in putting forth back-to-back proposals to hunt formerly endangered gray wolves and sandhill cranes, and there could be a backlash from non-hunters.
“It?s just lousy timing,” said Scott Craven, a recently retired UW-Madison wildlife ecologist. With the wolf just removed last month from the endangered species list, the non-hunting public is probably perplexed by what seems like a rush to hunt a species on which so much time and money was spent to restore and protect.