The future of Isle Royale’s wolves isn’t as bleak as previously thought, according to new genetic analysis released this week. The wolf population is still tiny – just nine were counted during last year’s winter study – but “genetic analysis of wolf excrement and additional observations suggest that four or five of the animals are females,” says the Associated Press story. Scientists previously thought only a single female remained, putting the pack one death away from eventual extinction.
In 2008, Andrew Sorensen wrote about the Isle Royale wolf and moose study, then celebrating its 50th year, in the February/March issue of Lake Superior Magazine.
Lake Superior Photo Opens Marquette Gallery
Frequent Lake Superior Magazine contributor Shawn Malone has opened a photo gallery and studio in downtown Marquette, Michigan, reports U.P.’s Second Wave.
But as much as she loves the place, getting snowed in there during a two-day blizzard probably wasn't the start she envisioned.
Jury Sides with American Steamship in Walter J. McCarthy Jr. Case
Five years after the partial sinking of the Walter J. McCarthy Jr. in Superior, American Steamship Company has won its legal battle with Hallett Dock Co. and will be awarded nearly $4.7 million, the Duluth News Tribune reports. Hallett plans to ask for a new trial.
+ Wisconsin apple production was down 54 percent in 2012, the result of last year’s harsh weather conditions.
+ Following efforts to reduce erosion near Lutsen ski hill, “the amount of sediment in the Poplar River on Minnesota’s North Shore of Lake Superior is down 35 percent,” reports the Duluth News Tribune.
+ The owners of the historic Globe Elevator in Superior, Wisconsin, began reclaiming the six million board feet of old-growth wood in 2006. Then the recession hit. Wisconsin Woodchuck, recently featured on History Channel’s “Ax Men,” now hopes to raise $56,000 to catch up on loan payments.
+ Got a story, poem or essay about the Penokee Hills? Send it to Ros Nelson by March 4. Selected submissions will be published in an anthology and the Ashland Daily Press, heard on the radio and read at a special StageNorth event.
Upcoming Events
Through Saturday, Feb. 23: The American Birkebeiner and its many associated events in Hayward, Wisconsin.
Saturday, Feb. 23: Downtown Sault Ste. Marie Outhouse Race.
Wednesday, Feb. 27: St. David’s Day Open Reading, a Spirit Lake Poetry event in Duluth. 7:30 p.m. at Teatro Zuccone.