Gov. Scott Walker says he's hopeful a federal judge will allow hunters to begin thinning a growing wolf population in Wisconsin.

A Department of Natural Resources winter survey found nearly 900 wolves concentrated in northern and west-central Wisconsin. That record-high number is an increase of 16 percent compared to last year. Walker expressed frustration that Wisconsin's annual wolf hunt, begun in 2012, is on hold because a federal judge relisted the gray wolf as an endangered species in late 2014.

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"We had a successful harvest set up with a wolf hunt, that’s why we further modified it. So, we’ve showed we can do a good job of monitoring our harvest," Walker said. "We just need the federal judge to give us that opportunity again."

Wisconsin hunters killed 528 wolves during three consecutive hunting and trapping seasons before the relisting.