Speaking at a town hall gathering at Stadium View in Green Bay recently, Tiffany — a candidate for governor in 2026 — said he expected the bill would pass the House before Christmas. A vote was scheduled for Thursday afternoon.
Known as the Pet and Livestock Protection Act of 2025, the bill he co-authored with Congresswoman Lauren Boebert of Colorado would require the Secretary of the Interior to reissue a Nov. 3, 2020 rule that removed gray wolves from the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife. Besides restoring authority to state lawmakers and wildlife officials, the legislation includes a provision stating it shall not be subject to judicial review.
The effort is similar to one in the Northern Rockies which delisted wolves in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and portions of other states in 2011 and 2012. The aim is to stop the constant relisting from court challenges brought on by animal activist groups every time wolves are delisted. Such groups often push false or misleading information on wolves in an effort to gain financial support.
Gun deer hunts are over up north for another year, but bow and crossbow deer hunters can be back out in camo for another two and a half weeks.
As of Dec. 15, the statewide deer harvest had surpassed 320,730 whitetails, including 163,861 antlered bucks. Crossbow users had 66,751 of those, including 42,032 bucks. Archers registered 39,824, including 25,265 bucks. That’s more than 106,000 deer combined, including more than 67,000 bucks.
The preliminary muzzleloader numbers showed hunters registered 11,879 deer, 5,565 bucks. That includes 201 in Brown County (93 bucks), though many of those could be regular firearm kills since the subunit allows extended firearm hunting.
Harvest was up in the four-day, antlerless-only hunt as well, with a preliminary 10,376 (36 bucks), including 69 in Brown County (one buck).
In all seasons, the Brown County count was up to more than 3,000, including 1,867 in the regular part of the unit (824 bucks) and 1,155 in the metro subunit (723 bucks).
Oconto County farmland was up to 6,673 (3,386 bucks), and Marinette farmland 6,914 (3,554 bucks). In addition, new Northeastern Wisconsin units 125 and 126 combined to add 5,300-plus, including more than 3,600 bucks. Other area counties: Calumet, 1446; Door, 3,917; Kewaunee, 2,818; Manitowoc, 3,788; Outagamie, 3,868; and Shawano, 9,245.
Great Lakes egg-take
Department of Natural Resources fisheries crews handled more than 18,000 salmon at the state’s three salmon and trout egg collection facilities this fall.
Sturgeon Bay’s Strawberry Creek produced 6,795 chinooks in seven processing days in October. The single-day numbers on Oct. 2, 9 and 16 all were in the 1,355 to 1,486 range, and Oct. 20 saw 965 processed. An estimated 3.25 million eggs were collected from 631 of the healthiest-looking female “kings” for rearing in state hatcheries.
Meanwhile, the Besadny Anadromous Fisheries Facility on the Kewaunee River saw 1,872 coho salmon and 708 Chinooks in eight processing days between Oct. 11 and mid-November. In four more collections in late November and early December, hundreds of brown trout were handled and dozens spawned. More than 1.1 million coho eggs and a half-million or so brown trout eggs were taken by late November.
The Root River facility in Racine was open from mid-Sept. to Nov. 10, and more than 9,100 fish were handled. That included more than 5,500 cohos, more than 3,500 Chinooks, 17 brown trout, 10 rainbow trout (steelhead) and two pink salmon.
Minnesota’s popular EagleCam is running, with an eagle pair regularly observed at the nest used last year. The camera was repositioned in the off-season, and an antenna was added to enhance quality.
The pair appears to be tending to the nest and getting it ready for the breeding season. This preparation of the nest is a bonding activity for the pair. Normally by mid-February, they will have two or three eggs, which the adults incubate for about 35 days. Here’s the link to bookmark: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkibG4ONyUmGlnOR3F3qq6Q.
The winter issue of Wisconsin Natural Resources magazine includes a Friends of Wisconsin State Parks 2026 calendar, and there’s a pair of do-it-yourself projects highlighted: making a holiday wreath from natural materials, and building a wood duck nest box.
You can learn more or check out the digital edition at https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/wnrmag. If you’d like to order a quarterly subscription of the actual magazine, or give it as a gift, use the promo code IEXPLORE to save $2 on the regular subscription price. Call 1-800-678-9472 or visit the website for more information.
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