Posted on 06/16/2004 5:41:50 PM PDT by SJackson
ISLE ROYALE, MICH. - The ferry to Isle Royale National Park transports the mind and the body. Staring at Lake Superior's icy, turquoise swells for several hours builds anticipation for setting foot in a very different world.
The island park gets fewer visitors in a year - about 20,000 - than Yellowstone National Park gets in a day. The wilderness is popular with backpackers and paddlers. It's also arguably the best wolf laboratory in the world and provides scientific grounding for many aspects of Wisconsin wolf management.
"A lot of the basic wolf biology we use in management planning comes from Isle Royale studies," said Adrian Wydeven, mammalian ecologist for the state Department of Natural Resources. "Aspects of the Isle Royale studies - such as number of wolves that can occur in an area, how wolf populations fluctuate, impact on big game and beaver, effects of disease, effect of genetics and other findings - are all considerations in wolf management in Wisconsin."
The heavily forested main island, a 4½ hour voyage from Copper Harbor, Mich., is 45 miles long and 10 miles wide and is surrounded by dozens of smaller reefs and islands.
It's a long way from the heated debate in Wisconsin, where the question has become, "How many wolves are too many?"
Celebrated on license plates as symbols of wilderness but scorned by many farmers and deer hunters, wolves spark waves of passionate debate.
Wolves came to Isle Royale in 1948 by walking from Canada across the ice. The wolf-moose survey began in 1958, making it the longest running predator-prey study in the world.
Rolf Peterson, a Michigan Technological University professor, has worked on the study since 1970.
"Our objective on Isle Royale is to understand how the moose and wolves interact when humans are not affecting the outcome," Mr. Peterson said. "For ecologists the island has been viewed as a natural system simple enough to be understood, even predictable to a degree, yet large enough to be instructive as a microcosm, or a smaller version of the world."
Isle Royale research isn't directly applicable to Wisconsin's situation on all levels, said Dick Thiel, lead wolf biologist for the Wisconsin DNR during the 1980s and current DNR wolf monitoring coordinator for the Central Forest, an area of about 7,000 square miles between Chippewa Falls and Necedah - the site of the southernmost natural occurrence of gray wolves in North America.
"Isle Royale has much larger prey base (moose vs. deer) than we do, and the ecosystems are different," Mr. Thiel said. "However, Isle Royale is essential to our understanding of how predator-prey dynamics function in the natural world - the world untouched by humans."
Mr. Thiel said Isle Royale has produced perhaps the best data on the amount of food wolves consume. In Wisconsin, it's estimated a typical adult wolf eats about 17 deer per year.
When the Wisconsin DNR announced the wolf population had reached an estimated 400 animals, above the long-term management goal of 350 wolves, many rural residents intensified their calls for stronger wolf controls.
Mr. Wydeven said, "350 wolves is our agreement with the people of Wisconsin," and state wildlife management officials must keep numbers in line.
The state Natural Resources Board, which sets policy for the DNR, approved removal of the gray wolf from the state list of threatened species in March. Wolves will continue to be protected in Wisconsin under state and federal law, but wildlife officials say the change will eventually give them more control in killing problem wolves.
In 2003 DNR and U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services staff trapped and killed 17 problem wolves on five farms in northern Wisconsin.
Wolf depredation on livestock and poultry was verified on 13 farms in Wisconsin in 2003 and included 20 cattle and 24 sheep for which reimbursement was paid.
"But that's only on verified losses, and the DNR won't pay if it's not verified," said Eric Koens, a Rusk County farmer and a director with the Wisconsin Cattlemen's Association. "We know there are more losses than that."
Mr. Koens said the 1989 state plan of 80 wolves would have been acceptable. But 400 wolves are too many, he said.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service may start the process to remove wolves from the federal threatened species list later this year and could complete the process in 2005. The action would return all wolf management to state officials.
Once federal and state delisting is completed, the DNR will be better able to target management efforts on wolves that are causing problems, officials said.
Funny they dont mention the two attacks on loggers that happened last year by wolves. The article was in a may issue of Wisconsin Outdoors-May 5th I think.
Matter of time and somebodys kid gets it waiting for the school bus.
Whatever they're doing for wildlife management, we're seeing more of "it" in the Milwaukee suburbs. 10 years ago, I'd never heard a coyote before. Now, you can hear them pretty clearly on many nights of the month, and we're talking about a greater metro area of 1.5 million people, with 8-lane freeways and massive development. There are also more deer, and last night, I damn near killed a fox that was crossing the road.
I'll let you in on a little secrete. The wolves on Isle Royal were on the verge of dying off because of sickness. So they caught them and gave them meds to keep them going. The place is supposed to be an eco system..and NEVER EVER was there suppose to be any intervention by man. That is untill a certain professor saw his job going down the tubes and had to save the wolves to save his dole from the government.
Think I'm full of crap? My best friend worked on that Island during that time and saw it first hand.
The Coyote will move into populated areas. They will also cross with dogs. They will also attack humans. But mostly will shy away and run. But dont ever corner one.
There are a lot more critters about you than you think. I've seen Badgers within the Milwaukee limits. Long time ago, but it shocked me all the same. No doubt you got Racoon, possum and skunks. So the rest will follow them.
Parvo if I recall, assumed to be brought over on a tourist's shoe soles.
Nice place, but hardly an untouched pristine world heritage site. The wolves turned up 60 years ago and displaced the coyotes, they ate the deer, the moose displaced the deer, and now the moose are eating all the trees. And the Scandanavians were there before the wolves.
You work over on that Island?
Just wait. The DNR has virtually confirmed a cougar north of you, and the black bear are on their way.
No, been there on occasion.
Howl ping.
Just wonderin if you did..you might have worked with Big Dave who I mentioned if you had worked on there. And Big Dave is BIG..you would never forget him. Hell of a fellow.
Good discussion!
Later
Ping for reference.
Guy actually shot one in a town west of Duluth. Cougars have been spotted within the Duluth city limits by some very reputable people but I'm not sure you could call that confirmed.
http://www.easterncougarnet.org/umw-desc/minn8-2001C.htm
Was "big dave" really Dave Strahl? He is a friend of mine! Small world.
Is small aint it!?
Were you two friends?
Then again, I suspect that if a problem evolves, the Yoopers will take care of it, despite the screaming of pantywaists in Ann Arbor, Lansing, or Detroit.
The only thing I learned from this article is that the gray wolf eats about 3-3.5 pounds of meat/day.
We are friends. Matter of fact he supposed to get my tiller fixed.I gotta call him and see if he's done with it.
Whens the last time you saw him?
I am really sorry.. It has been a few years since I saw Dave, however I have talked to him in the last year. When you see him next tell him that Mike from Escanaba said hello
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