The Mission of the Timber Wolf Alliance (TWA) is to use science-based information to promote an ecologically-functional wolf population in areas of suitable habitat and to promote human coexistence with wolves. The Alliance’s geographic emphasis is within the states of Michigan and Wisconsin.
While the Timber Wolf Alliance’s mission statement doesn’t address the details of wolf management policy, it is the basis for underlying tenets that TWA believes are fundamental to sound wolf management. Specifically, the Timber Wolf Alliance envisions a future in which:
The size of the wolf population is not regulated by humans in large areas of wildland where levels of conflict are minimal. In these areas, wolves maintain their normal pack structure and size and fulfill their ecological function as an apex predator. Wolves in these areas are protected for conservation, cultural, scientific, and non-consumptive purposes. The public comes to these areas to track, listen for howls, observe, and photograph wolves and wolf sign. These areas also serve as important scientific research areas, where wolves are studied under conditions less manipulated by humans.
State and Tribal Governments operate flexible management/stewardship systems that address farmers’ and pet owners’ concerns when they have verified harm to their domestic animals.
Government personnel assist the public in identifying wolf and other wildlife damage, provide advice on co-existence and abatements, address the rare instances of human safety concern, and when necessary, provide lethal control on problem wolves.
Tribal and state governments work cooperatively to establish management goals within tribally ceded lands, and to protect and steward wolves within tribal reservations and buffer areas around those reservations for wolves whose territories span both state and tribal lands. State and federal government agents consult with tribal conservation departments before conducting lethal controls in recognized buffer areas around reservations.