The story: As hunters prepare for Wisconsin’s wolf hunt, some scientists are warning that a proposal to sharply cull the population could destabilize it — just two years after wolves were removed from the federal endangered list. Credit: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Yesterday, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Secretary Cathy Stepp published a news release criticizing parts of the Center’s Oct. 13 story on the state’s wolf management.

The Center’s response:

The Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism stands by its report on the state Department of Natural Resources’ management of the wolf population. The report fairly and accurately draws upon the perspectives of advocates and critics of the DNR, through interviews and public records. DNR Secretary Cathy Stepp’s response mischaracterizes portions of WCIJ’s report, which we invite the public to read in its entirety. We look forward to further examinations of these important issues in the future.

The Center’s story: Scientists question state’s course on wolves
Sidebar: Anti-hunting groups excluded from wolf committee

Andy Hall

Andy Hall is co-founder and executive director of the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism. Since the Center’s launch in 2009, he has overseen the Center’s journalistic and financial operations. Previously he spent more than 26 years working at the Wisconsin State Journal and The Arizona Republic and has won dozens of awards for his reporting, including a Gerald Loeb Award for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism and a national award from the Education Writers Association. Hall is a former Investigative Reporters and Editors board member, and current IRE member. He is based in Madison, Wisconsin. He can be reached at ahall@wisconsinwatch.org