Endangered Resources
For over 25 years, the Endangered Resources Program has worked to conserve Wisconsin's biodiversity for present and future generations. Our goals are to identify, protect and manage native plants, animals and natural communities from the very common to critically endangered. We work with others to promote knowledge, appreciation and stewardship of Wisconsin's native species and ecosystems.
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Features
WANTED: Wisconsin Bats
Bats Wanted Poster
A study of bats is being conducted and your help is needed. Information is
needed on the location and size of bat colonies. White-nose Syndrome is a fungal
disease that is lethal to bats. This unprecedented disease is currently spreading
toward Wisconsin and threatens all our cave-dwelling bats. If you know if large
numbers of bats in caves, mines, barns, bridges, churches, schools, or any other
building, please contact the Wisconsin Bat Program via email
or call the hotline at 608.266.5216.
For more information, visit the Wisconsin
Bat Monitoring Program (exit DNR).
New Rules in Place for Wolf-dog Hybrids
Rules going into effect this summer are designed to prevent new introductions of wolf-dog hybrids, considered to be an invasive species. Under the rules effective July 1, 2010, people must have a license to possess wolf-dog hybrids in captivity. Also as of July 1, it is illegal to release wolf-dog hybrids into the wild and such releases can result in penalties of up to $1,142, as well as restitution costs for any damage caused by the animal. People who possess wolf-dog hybrids will need to apply to the department for a captive wild animal farm license. People who own animals that they consider to be wolf-dog hybrids will only be able to possess animals that have been spayed or neutered. Read the news release... Or see the Captive Wild Animal Regulations for more details...Grant Will Fund Invasive Species Removal along Lake Michigan
Aerial spraying of dense Phragmites
As part of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) (exit DNR), the US EPA will fund a DNR project to control invasive Phragmites and Lyme Grass along the Lake Michigan shoreline and its coastal wetlands. President Obama has made restoring the Great Lakes a national priority. In February 2009, he proposed $475 million for the GLRI, an unprecedented investment in the nation's largest fresh surface water ecosystem. Congress appropriated full funding in October.
The $805,000 grant will help restore areas designated as Conservation Opportunity Areas in the Wisconsin Wildlife Action Plan and will help protect critical habitat for many rare plants and animals. During the past 15 years, low Lake Michigan water levels has exposed hundreds of acres of new shoreline, which has quickly been invaded by non-native Phragmites and Lyme Grass. The presence of these two highly invasive species has seriously impacted important coastal habitat - even eliminating it in some areas. This project was selected from over 1,000 others submitted and will help restore significant amounts of Great Lakes coastal habitat. Read more about the GLRI project finalists.... (exit DNR)
Wisconsin Petitions to Remove Gray Wolf from Endangered Species List
Department of Natural Resources Secretary Matt Frank announced today that the DNR has submitted a petition [PDF 524K] to Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar asking for removal of the gray wolf from the federal endangered species list in Wisconsin.
"Wisconsin has worked cooperatively with the Department of the Interior on wolf recovery for more than 30 years and has supported Interior’s recent efforts to delist the gray wolf,” said Frank. “We believe, and scientific evidence supports, that delisting and transferring management of the wolf to on problem wolves." Read more...
DNR Requesting Special Section 10 Permit for Wolf Control: Public Comments Invited
The Wisconsin DNR is requesting a special section 10 permit from the US Fish and Wildlife Service to allow DNR to do lethal and nonlethal controls on depredating wolves while wolves continue to be listed as endangered. As outlined in the Federal Register Notice [PDF], the permit will allow the DNR to "take" the gray wolf throughout Wisconsin for research, monitoring, and depredation abatement activities. The take would involve both lethal and non-lethal control for wolves involved in depredating livestock, livestock guard animals, and pets.Recovery of Gray Wolves in the Great Lakes Region of the United States: An Endangered Species Success Story
A new book edited by Adrian Wydeven (mammal ecologist and wolf program coordinator for the Wisconsin DNR), Tim Van Deelen (assistant professor of wildlife ecology at UW- Madison), and Ed Heske (Illinois Natural History Survey) is available for purchase with a portion of the proceeds from sales going to support the conservation of wolves for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. The book on the recovery of gray wolves examines the history of wolf management, habitat, depredation management, population dynamics, ESA listing process, social surveys, and education efforts within the region that has allowed this recovery to occur. The book contains 21 chapters, authored by 47 individuals, including 8 current or retired employees of the Wisconsin DNR. More Information... (exit DNR)
The Vanishing Present: Wisconsin's Changing Lands, Waters, and Wildlife
A new book edited by Donald M. Waller (Professor of botany and environmental studies at UW-Madison) and Thomas P. Rooney (assistant professor of biological sciences and environmental sciences at Wright State University) is available for purchase with a portion of the proceeds from sales going to support the research fund of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources' Bureau of Endangered Resources. "The Vanishing Present brings together a distinguished set of contributors including scientists, naturalists, and policy experts to examine how human pressures on Wisconsin's changing lands, waters, and wildlife have redefined the state's ecology." More Information... (exit DNR)
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