The Department of Natural Resources’ hotly debated wolf management plan is one of the 27 proposed rules Gov. Tony Evers’ administration is pushing to implement without going through JCRAR.
The wolf management plan, approved by the Natural Resources Board in 2023, lays out guidelines for regulating the wolf population in Wisconsin, including how a wolf hunt would be conducted if gray wolves are removed from the endangered species list.
Republicans in the Legislature have criticized it for failing to include a numeric statewide population goal. Last session, Evers vetoed a GOP bill that would have required a statewide population goal, arguing the approach “does not consider the social, scientific, biological and legal complexities of a recovered wolf population.”
The Financial Institutions and Sporting Heritage Committee held a public hearing on the rule in March and requested modifications shortly after that.
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Sen. Rob Stafsholt, R-New Richmond, who chairs the committee, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Evers sent a letter to cabinet secretaries last week directing them to submit rules to be finalized following a state Supreme Court ruling that nixed the Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules’ power to indefinitely suspend proposed regulations.
The Legislative Reference Bureau shared with WisPolitics a list of the 27 rules it received from agencies. LRB is evaluating which ones have made it through the standing committee process. Those that have will then be published in the register next week, which will start a process leading to their implementation on Oct. 1.
The rules agencies submitted to LRB include updates to the state’s antidegradation policy, following multiple failed efforts to align it with federal rulemaking since the EPA updated requirements in 2015.
The revisions seek to protect surface water by regulating new or increased pollutant discharges. The rule had stalled since a legislative committee requested modifications in 2023 as DNR weighed possible changes to address stakeholder concerns about its impact. The agency recalled it in April.
Environmental groups say the update is overdue and necessary to ensure compliance with federal law, including how DNR determines when a pollutant would significantly lower water quality.
But Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce threatened to take legal action if changes aren’t made, arguing the regulations’ costs will significantly exceed what state law allows. Meanwhile, dairy groups have said it would create more bureaucratic hurdles and costs for large farms known as concentrated animal feeding operations, although DNR has pushed back on that claim.
Scott Manley, WMC executive vice president of government relations, argued the Evers’ administration’s move to advance the rulemaking is out of step with the recent state Supreme Court ruling. Manley in a statement to WisPolitics said the court didn’t strike down the Legislature’s ability to hold public hearings on proposed rules and request germane modifications.
“Governor Evers’ directive to ignore these critical steps of the rulemaking process is contrary to the law,” Manley said. “In addition to being unlawful, Governor Evers’ decision to bypass the Legislature robs citizens of any meaningful public scrutiny of his agencies’ unilateral lawmaking. These lawless actions are a huge loss for government transparency.”
Midwest Environmental Advocates spokesperson Peg Sheaffer told WisPolitics the rulemaking “will achieve long overdue revisions to Wisconsin’s water pollution permitting program to bring it in line with the Clean Water Act.”
