Hunting Opponents Run For Seats On State Conservation Congress

Annual spring conservation hearings will be held on Monday night in every Wisconsin county. At some of the sessions, opponents of hunting will be running for more seats on the Wisconsin Conservation Congress, a prominent state advisory group.

A few backers of non-consumptive uses of wildlife are already delegates to the 360-member congress. Now, several more people concerned about the expansion of hunting in the state expect to run for seats on the group.

Elizabeth Huntley-Roberts of the Wisconsin Wolf Front plans to try to get elected at the spring meeting in Kenosha County. She says the congress is too much in favor of consuming game animals.

“The WCC has evolved into more of a hunter’s club,” said Huntley-Roberts. “It’s primarily dominated by hunting and trapping interests.”

Huntley-Roberts says having more supporters of non-consumptive uses of wildlife would help the congress as it tries to protect wild land from development. She says her candidacy is timely, as spring hearing attendees will also get to vote on advisory questions about shooting white deer and tundra swans, as well as allowing hunters to go onto private property to gather their dogs without landowner permission.