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Prohibits the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (the Secretary) from listing any population of lake sturgeon in Wisconsin as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act and amends the Act’s listing language to add that exception. It preserves the State’s existing sturgeon management and the annual spearing season by removing federal listing as an option for Wisconsin lake sturgeon populations. The change is narrow and targeted: it carves out Wisconsin lake sturgeon from the federal listing process, leaving state management and local cultural/economic activities (like spearing) unaffected by a federal endangered/threatened designation for those populations.
The lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) is important to the culture of Wisconsin, especially to communities on Lake Winnebago and the Winnebago System.
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Sturgeon for Tomorrow, the Sturgeon Advisory Committee, the Sturgeon Guard, and local fishing, sportsmen, and conservation groups have collaborated closely and made Wisconsin a global leader in lake sturgeon management.
Because of these efforts and a comprehensive management plan, the Lake Winnebago system has a thriving lake sturgeon population — one of the largest in North America — and a successful sustainable sturgeon fishery.
The annual sturgeon spearing season is a key part of the management plan, is carefully managed, and provides data (including spawning assessments) needed to track population levels and set allowable harvest rates.
Mandatory registration stations collect detailed data on each harvested fish (length, weight, sex, tag status) and help enforce seasonal harvest caps.
Primary effects: State fish and wildlife agencies, tribal governments, and local communities in Wisconsin that participate in or depend on lake sturgeon management and the annual spearing season will retain management authority without the possibility of a federal ESA listing altering those activities. Recreational and commercial fishers, tribal harvesters, and local businesses tied to spearing and related cultural events are likely to see continued access and regulatory stability under state rules.
Federal agencies: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will be barred from applying ESA listing protections to Wisconsin lake sturgeon populations, limiting federal conservation tools (listing-based prohibitions, recovery planning, critical habitat designations, and certain funding or regulatory triggers tied to listing).
Conservation organizations and researchers: Groups that monitor population trends and advocate for federal protections may find their options narrowed; species recovery efforts that depend on ESA mechanisms could be constrained.
Potential risks and trade-offs: If Wisconsin populations decline in the future, federal listing would not be available to compel or fund recovery under the ESA, raising the possibility that state/tribal measures might be insufficient to prevent further decline. The change may also set a precedent for other narrowly targeted statutory exclusions from ESA listings, increasing tensions between local economic/cultural priorities and national conservation goals.
Net effect: Retains local cultural and economic activities tied to lake sturgeon in Wisconsin while reducing the federal government’s statutory tools to intervene under the ESA for those specific populations.
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Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
Introduced February 7, 2025 by Tony Wied · Last progress February 7, 2025
Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
Introduced in House