Wolf Management: Non-lethal Control
8. Zoning
Wolves are largely compatible with many kinds of human land use: mining, forestry, recreation, and non-livestock forms of agriculture, like horticulture. Wolves do not have an absolute need for wilderness areas; they can live almost anywhere there is sufficient food and space and people do not persecute them heavily. It is where livestock production is important that wolves may need to be managed. This is where zoning comes in.
Zoning is already common in human land-use activities. There are industrial and residential zones in cities. In the countryside there are national parks, forestry, and agricultural zones.
What Is Zoning?
A region is divided into zones and wolves are managed according to each zone's characteristics of habitat, agriculture, industry, etc. A zone's characteristics are based mainly on its potential for wolf-human conflict and suitability of its habitat for wolves.
Thus, at one extreme, in a zone with intensive livestock production, wolves might be harassed or destroyed if they repeatedly kill livestock. But at the other extreme, in a zone where livestock production is marginal or does not exist, wolves could have priority and be favoured over human activities. Zones in between these extremes would have management regimes appropriate for their circumstances. An example is a zone where wolves only start to be managed if they reach a certain density or when wolf-livestock problems reach a certain level. See below for an example of an actual zone management plan in Wisconsin.
Patterns Of Zones
The physical layout of a zoned region could be concentric, consisting of an inner zone where wolves live, surrounded by an outer zone were wolves are excluded. More intricately, a number of zones where wolves live could be joined by belts of land to accommodate wolves moving from one zone to another, for dispersal for instance. Or the overall layout of a zoned region could resemble a checker pattern made up of wolf zones and wolf exclusion zones.
The extremes of wolf zoning are, on the one hand, intensive livestock rearing regions, and on the other hand, wilderness or semi-wilderness regions. Zones like these, where wolves are killed from the former and tolerated in the later, already exist, whether they are called zones or not. An example is Alberta. Wolves generally live and are tolerated throughout the province except for the intensively farmed south-east.
A more complicated set up is Minnesota. Wolves are virtually fully protected in the Superior National Forest zone, which is mainly wilderness and regarded as the core of their range. Around it are zones where wolves can be controlled for livestock depredation. Further afield is an agricultural zone judged unsuitable for wolves.
Advantages & Disadvantages
Instead of trying to fit all wolves into one land use policy - such as strictly control all wolves or never control any wolves - different styles of wolf management can be adopted for different localities. Thus zoning can help reconcile the wide differences of opinion held by people on how wolves should be managed. Zoning will not satisfy everyone, however; some people will want all wolves killed and some people will insist all wolves must be saved.
Wolf zones need to be chosen carefully, so as not to cut wolf territories in two, yet protect areas of livestock production. And zoning as a whole must be extensive, covering thousands of square kilometres, to accommodate a viable wolf population.
Three types of wolf management zone in the Northern Forest Deer Management Units and Menominee County, Wisconsin, USA (Wisconsin Wolf Management Plan 1999).
Zone 1 - Northern Forest
- 47,000 square kilometres (18,000 square miles) within the Northern Forest.
- Can support 300-500 wolves.
- Habitat is mainly of forest, 90 percent of the states' favourable (primary) wolf habitat, with relatively little farmland or urban areas.
- Wolf habitat would be enhanced in suitable areas by managing public access, protecting den and rendezvous sites, and managing forest to support adequate prey populations.
- Compensation for livestock losses would be provided.
- Depredation controls would include live-trapping and translocation if suitable habitat exists or destruction of depredating wolves.
- US Department of Agriculture-Wildlife Services, Department of Natural Resources and law enforcement agencies could destroy nuisance wolves within 1.5 kilometres (0.5 miles) of depredation sites.
- Wolf habitat maintenance would be encouraged on suitable portions of public lands by access management, protection of den and rendezvous sites, and forest management to support adequate prey populations.
- When the wolf population has reached a certain level, control of depredating wolves could be carried out by landowners/occupants under permit and be allowed to kill wolves in the act of attacking pets or livestock on their land.
- If the wolf population exceeds a certain level, government trappers may proactively trap wolves in areas with chronic wolf depredation problems.
Zone 2 - Central Forest Zone
- 11,700 square kilometres (4,500 square miles) in the Central Forest.
- Can sustain 20-40 wolves.
- Wolf habitat would be enhanced in suitable areas by managing public access, protecting den and rendezvous sites, and managing forest to support adequate prey populations.
- Compensation for livestock losses would be provided.
- Depredation controls would include live-trapping and translocation if suitable habitat exists and destruction of wolves within 1.5 kilometres (0.5 mile) of a depredation site.
- US Department of Agriculture-Wildlife Services, Department of Natural Resources and law enforcement agencies could destroy nuisance wolves.
- When the wolf population has reached a certain level, control of depredating wolves could be carried out by landowners/occupants under permit and be allowed to kill wolves in the act of attacking pets or livestock on their land.
- If the wolf population exceeds 350, government trappers may proactively trap wolves in areas with ongoing wolf problems.
Zone 3 - Wolf Buffer Area
- 47,000 square kilometres (18,000 square miles) including the mixed forest/farming areas of central Wisconsin and the rugged Coulee country of western Wisconsin.
- This zone has limited habitat for wolf packs to colonise, but probably contains patches of suitable dispersal habitat that connects the north and central management zones.
- Most of the zone has less than a ten percent chance of being occupied by wolf packs. But some areas along the Mississippi River have greater than 25 percent chance of being occupied by wolf packs.
- Because of the importance of maintaining genetic diversity in the Central Forest wolf population, some level of protection will be provided for dispersing wolves in this area.
- Unless these wolves cause problems, they will not be controlled. But wolves who become depredators on livestock or pets will be vigorously controlled.
- Trapping by government agents can be conducted up to eight kilometres (five miles) from depredation sites.
- Wolf packs which establish themselves may be allowed to remain, but if depredation occurs the whole pack may be removed.
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