Wildlife Management Strategic Plan Updates
The DNR's Wildlife Management Program oversees the management of our wildlife game species (e.g., deer, bear, waterfowl, furbearers and more) and the habitats these species call home. Managing species requires balancing a diversity of priorities, including enhancing the long-term viability of the species, addressing nuisance and agricultural impacts and supporting related recreational opportunities, amongst others.
Currently, the Wildlife Management Program is developing its next Strategic Plan. This plan will help direct the program in determining priorities to efficiently use staff time, materials and limited financial resources.
The Wildlife Management Program has started developing our next strategic plan, kicking off a series of internal discussions about the program's direction in the coming years. One of the major themes that emerged from those discussions was a desire to gather input from our partners and the public. After all, Wisconsin's wildlife species are a resource we all use and care about. The program has created several opportunities for staff, partners and the public to weigh in on the plan as we develop it.
We've already collected feedback from our staff and are currently collecting feedback from our partner groups. The next step is to collect feedback from the public.
The DNR is currently holding a public input process for all members of the public to share their thoughts on our objectives. In particular, we are looking for feedback on how the public wants us to rank our priorities. This feedback will be reviewed and discussed in detail in our remaining meetings before we finalize our strategic plan.
If you want to provide feedback, please go to the "Participate In The Public Input Process" tab on this page.
The Process So Far
The Wildlife Management Program has worked on our next strategic plan since January 2024. A small Wildlife Management leadership team developed a first draft of the plan's core objectives. Then, the leadership team shared them with the rest of the program staff and sought input on refining them. This was the first of several input opportunities the team had built into the process. The team met and reviewed all of the staff feedback, considering and using this feedback to refine the objectives further.
Next, the team took the refined objectives back to the staff a second time and provided a second opportunity for the staff to voice their thoughts. The feedback from the second round highlighted that the team was aligned with the rest of the program, so the team moved on to developing metrics for each objective. These metrics help define each objective and will help ensure we can track our progress.
At this point, the discussions moved into different ways of prioritizing staff time and spending limited funds. The team poured over budgets, explored the trade-offs of investing more of our resources into one type of project (often at the expense of another), and took a hard look at what could be realistically accomplished. Those conversations are still ongoing.
Simultaneously, the team felt strongly that our partners and the public should have an opportunity to share their thoughts on what we should be focused on as a program. That's where a public input form came in. Seven of our core objectives were listed in the form, and participants were asked to rank them in terms of importance and priority. The team received thousands of comments from all over the state. Clearly, Wisconsin cares about the future of wildlife in the state and the Wildlife program.
The team is currently reviewing all the responses and considering any needed changes. Work on the strategic plan will continue through Summer 2025, and this webpage will be periodically updated. Feel free to check back in every so often. Interested people are also welcome to sign up for occasional email updates. Check out the "Want To Get Updates?" tab for more information.
Participate In The Public Input Process
A public input form was open for feedback until Feb. 28, 2025. During this time, anyone could share their input on how the program should prioritize seven objectives for managing wildlife in Wisconsin. This feedback is currently being analyzed and will feed into the remaining discussions the program holds.
Thank you to everyone who provided input during the input period.
Want To Get Updates?
The Wildlife Management Program will send periodic updates on the plan and its development through GovDelivery. It is easy to sign up to receive these updates; a direct link is below. Anyone interested can click the link and enter their email to be automatically added to the list.