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• Wisconsin sportsman say yes to wolf season, no to Legislature's fishing rules
• 43rd annual Spring Flood Run Saturday

By Wheeler News Service & RiverTown Newspaper Group

Wisconsin hunters love the idea of shooting wolves to keep them in check.

A total of 86 percent of the 5,600 who voted at this week's conservation hearings favored a wolf hunt.

Ed Harvey, who chairs the Wisconsin Conservation Congress, says it might take five years or longer to get a hunting season in place and it might not happen at all, if a federal court rules in favor of a pending lawsuit to reinstate the wolves' endangered status.

However, Harvey says the state should at least begin to plan for a wolf hunt.

The Natural Resources Board could get the wheels rolling as early as next month, but the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources says it will be a long process and the Legislature would eventually have to approve a hunt.

Supporters say it would stop wolves from damaging farm crops and livestock.

The Sierra Club says the bullets would drive wolves from their natural territory, and cause even more damage.

The DNR said 30 farms were damaged by wolves last year and 41 problem animals were killed. None have died so far this year.

Wisconsin had around 570 wolves at last count. The state's goal is to have no more than 350 outside of Indian reservations.

Fisheries questions

Hearing participants rejected questions relating to changes lawmakers made to fishing seasons in the 2007-2009 budget bill.

Voters were asked which of two options they preferred to implement a new law directing the DNR to create a catch and release musky season in May in northern Wisconsin.

The DNR needs to write administrative rules to implement the season starting in 2009 and was looking for guidance from anglers on how to proceed.

Voters rejected 3,232 to 1,801 an option that would create a catch-and-release season for muskellunge in the northern zone (waters north of U.S. Highway 10) starting the first Saturday in May and restricting anglers to using only artificial lures with barbless hooks.

Voters rejected by an even greater margin -- 3,617 to 1,202 -- an option to move the opening day for the regular musky season in the northern zone to the first Saturday in May, the same as the opening day for southern musky waters. Harvest could occur and barbless hooks would not be required.

Despite the outcome of the public hearings, the DNR is still required to proceed with one of the options.

Deer questions

Participants also voted in favor of a statewide ban on deer feeding and baiting by a vote of 3,092 to 2,678.

They also voted yes to support using rifles for deer hunting in Dunn County by a wide margin of 3,159 to 779.

Voters said no to a ban on shining deer from public roads. That vote was 2,805 for and 2,848 against.

Get results of all the questions voted on during Tuesday night's conservation congress on the DNR Web site at www.dnr.state.wi.us

By Jason Schulte, RiverTown Staff

There are many traditional signs of spring, including the return of leaves on trees, rivers and lakes being ice-free or the migration of animals such as a robin or the bald eagle.

Around Pierce County, another sign spring has sprung is the sound of hundreds of motorcycles cruising down Hwy. 35.

That's because for the 43rd year, the Spring Flood Run is scheduled for this Saturday. The run will begin at 8 a.m. from The Beach Club at Lake St. Croix Beach, Minn., and will make its way into Prescott about 10:30 a.m.

The first flood run was in 1965, going down Minn. Hwy. 61 to Winona, Minn., to help sandbag during the floods that year.

The event has now grown over the years to also become a benefit for Children's Hospital in the Twin Cities, besides flood victims.

According to the Web site, www.floodrun.org, this year's run will go down both the Minnesota and Wisconsin sides of the Mississippi River to alleviate the congestion in all the area towns.

To participate in the Flood Run, all one has to do is a buy a benefit wristband for $10 at the following locations in Pierce County: The No Name Saloon in Prescott, The Nauti Hawg Bar in Diamond Bluff and the official Flood Run booth in Maiden Rock. Merchandise featuring flood run shirts, woman's shirts, pins and skull caps will also be available at those locations.

For more please read the April 16 print edition of the Pierce County Herald.