As an official with the state DNR, Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford orchestrated a plan that led to a “terrible time for Wisconsin farmers,” when she helped block a wolf hunt, leading to the loss of livestock and pets, according to a state hunting and conservation expert.
“Susan Crawford’s lack of leadership and mismanagement at the DNR led to a terrible time for Wisconsin farmers who bore the brunt of it,” said Luke Hilgemann, a Wisconsinite who is executive director of the conservation and hunting rights group, the International Order of T. Roosevelt.
Crawford held a number of positions for then-state Attorney General and Governor Jim Doyle, at the DNR, at the state Department of Justice, at the state Department of Corrections, and, eventually, as his chief legal counsel. Her tenure at the DNR has been less-explored. At the DNR, she served as the administrator of the DNR’s enforcement and science division from 2007 to 2009, which took the lead in trying to prevent a wolf hunt, he said. Her LinkedIn page confirms her role at the DNR.
It says she was the administrator of the Division of Enforcement from
In 2007, the Wisconsin gray wolf was officially de-listed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Hilgemann said, and Associated Press articles from the time confirm. “That should have triggered a public harvest season because the population was above the 350 population goal,” he said. “Instead of moving forward with that season, under Crawford’s leadership at DNR and her division, they moved forward with a plan called a non-lethal plan for dealing with wolves” instead of a hunt.
“It led to a skyrocketing increase in depredations of livestock and pets,” said Hilgemann. “The same tactics were used again by the (Tony) Evers’ administration in 2020.”
In August 2008, columnist Pat Durkin chastised the DNR in the Oshkosh Northwestern.
“With wolf numbers still climbing, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Agency last year returned management duties to the DNR,” he wrote. “…the DNR couldn’t be much more timid in planning a public hunt…. Is this a professional wildlife agency or a 98-pound weakling? If this were a Godfather movie, Don Vito Corleone would grab the DNR, smack its face and tell it to show pride in the profession.”
“As the wolf population has increased, so have depredation by some wolves on livestock, pets and hunting dogs, an expert told the AP in 2008. “A wolf hunting season would be a way to keep the population in check.”
In 2007, according to the Capital Times, 30 farms lost livestock due to wolf attacks in Wisconsin. That included 30 cattle, 13 dogs, six sheep and a horse, according to the Wisconsin State Journal in 2008. That article said the Legislature’s okay was needed to authorize a wolf hunt.
News stories at the time say the government relisted the wolves in 2009.
In 2009, the Superior Telegram reported that the wolf population was up 14%.
Hilgemann sued the state of Wisconsin in 2021 to “open up the wolf hunt season,” and he described Crawford as “one of the liberal leaders in the DNR” who tried to stop the wolf harvest over the years.
“To allow these types of delays and tactics jeopardizes Wisconsin’s outdoor traditions,” he said. “It basically led to depredations increasing.”
Livestock attacks and pets being killed by wolves increased. This was devastating to Wisconsin farmers, according to Hilgemann.
“To farmers, it’s not just you lost a cow or you lost a horse,” he said. “It’s basically their livelihood and the detriments to the rest of their herd that remained. It dropped their production of remaining cows. It’s a constant battle.”
Hilgemann worked for state Rep. Scott Suder at the time, so he had a front-row seat to Crawford’s efforts at the DNR involving the wolf population. Suder moved wolf hunting legislation forward to “allow a season to take place,” Hilgemann said.
A 2008 wolf plan by the DNR says, “Experimental non-lethal abatement measures, such as the use of shock collars, will be done by either the DNR or WS after consultation.” There were some reactionary measures allowed, such as, “On private land, the landowner, lessee or occupant of the land may shoot and kill any gray wolf in the act of killing, wounding or biting a domestic animal. ”
Liberal environmental groups have rallied around Crawford.
“Her previous work with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR), and her endorsement by WI Conservation Voters, all align with Third Act’s climate protection values. From fossil fuel infrastructure projects to fights for clean water, the Court will undoubtedly be hearing cases related to climate and environmental protection,” wrote one such group.
That group is fighting against the federal “funding freeze.” They also have advocated for transgender people and illegal immigrants, even comparing President Donald Trump’s efforts to get criminal illegals out of the country to “World War II’s concentration camps.”
“Third Act Wisconsin is active in protesting the DNR’s permit to allow Enbridge to reroute its Line 5 oil pipeline through northern Wisconsin (said permit was approved within days of a massive oil spill from Enbridge’s Line 6 in rural Jefferson County). Supreme Court cases around this issue are almost inevitable.”
