The New Kids in the Park: The National Park Service released two wolves – a 4-year-old female and 5-year-old male – on Wednesday as part of its project to reinvigorate wolves on Isle Royale National Park. With photos posted on Facebook was this note: “This female gray wolf was taken to the island by plane and carried to a release site away from the public and the territory of the two resident wolves. It did not take long for her to leave the crate and begin exploring her new home on the island. A second wolf, a male, left his crate shortly after dark in a different location. The two of them will be joined by other wolves in the coming weeks.” The plan is for six additional wolves this fall and then 20 to 30 over the next few years, according to the Detroit Free Press. There were only two remaining native wolves by last count, both related and unlikely to reproduce. After a review of options, the park decided to “reintroduce” wolves from the mainland.
Irvin in Motion: The William A. Irvin proved it is indeed a “floating museum” on Saturday, Sept. 22, when it slipped its slip in the wee hours of the morning to head to Fraser Shipyards, where it will undergo some maintenance and repair work while its home berth for three decades, the Minnesota Slip, completes $8 million in upgrades and environmental cleanup, which involves “capping” or covering with dredge material, about 37,000 cubic yards of polluted sediment in the slip. With what was said to be a mere 7 inches of clearance, the retired freighter glided (with the help of winches attached to barges, since its engine has not operated for decades) through the pedestrian drawbridge across the slip. Dennis O’Hara posted a time-lapse video of the Irvin’s exit. Dan Kraker of MPR was on hand along with a couple of hundred media folk and boatnerds to see the Irvin’s departure as it inched through at slightly more than a half-mile per hour (about 1 foot every 4 seconds). Once the 610-foot flagship of U.S. Steel’s Great Lakes Fleet, powered by a 2,000 hp steam turbine, the Irvin ended its working career in 1978. The Irvin, which usually receives 36,000 visitors a year, was closed this summer and will not, obviously, be open for the highly popular Haunted Ship in October. If all goes as planned, the freighter will be returned to its slip in spring, ready to receive visitors for summer 2019.
A Different Kind of Environmental Impact: A Great Lakes Commission study, done by the University of Michigan and scheduled for official release on Sept. 30, apparently indicates that every $1 spent on projects through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) will generate $3.35 in economic development from recreation, tourism and industry. In the summary of the “Socioeconomic Impacts of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative,” researchers note, “We estimated that there was a total of $1.4 billion in federal spending on GLRI projects in the Great Lakes states between 2010 and 2016. Matching funds, primarily from state and local governments, contributed an estimated additional $360 million in funding, bringing total spending on GLRI projects in the Great Lakes states to $1.7 billion. According to a story by Sabrina Eaton of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the study found “that while the GLRI was meant to environmentally restore the Great Lakes rather than stimulate its economy, it nonetheless created or supported thousands of jobs – approximately the same number of jobs per dollar of investment that would be created by a conventional federal stimulus program designed to boost job growth.”
The GLRI, launched by Congress in 2010, accelerates efforts to protect and restore the water system that holds 20 percent of the world’s fresh surface water (more than half of that in Lake Superior). The remediation of pollution in the Minnesota Slip (mentioned in the story above about moving the William A. Irvin) is part of the GLRI money, as are projects indicated by the red dots in the image taken from the study. For one more such project in Michigan, read on …
Saving Sandy Shores: Lake Superior boasts some spectacular sandy beaches, especially along its south shore, but less than 13 percent of the Lake’s coast is composed of such beaches, the Superior Watershed Partnership & Land Conservancy noted this week in announcing $800,000 in grants through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative to protect more than 3,100 feet of sand beaches with “sensitive dune and swale habitat, coastal wetlands and stands of old growth forest.” The conservancy lands at Eagles Nest and Laughing Whitefish will remain open to the public. The partnership's announcement notes: “The Eagles Nest Community Forest (first photo) is located 7 miles west of the city of Marquette and includes a variety of forest types and coastal wetlands including 1,130 feet of Lake Superior sand shoreline. Previously owned by the same family since the 1870s, the Superior Watershed Partnership acquired the property and is currently developing a management plan.” While the property will not be available for development, it will be open for such public uses as hiking, cross-country ski trails and nature watching. The Laughing Whitefish Community Forest (second photo), about 20 miles west of Munising, the release continued, “is dominated by forested uplands including old-growth white pine, coastal wetlands, over 1,200 feet of the Laughing Whitefish River and over 2,000 feet of Lake Superior sand beach. The Laughing Whitefish Community Forest will also preserve important coastal ecosystems and provide educational and recreational opportunities for area residents and tourists.”
A Contest with A Peel: Apple peeling contestants, time’s a wasting for you to practice your cutting-edge techniques in time for the Bayfield Apple Festival on Oct. 5-6. The Apple Peeling Contest, a popular part of the festive weekend, is Saturday, Oct. 6. The trick to becoming champion is to create the longest continuous peel and if you’re wondering what disqualifies your peel progress, the Apple Fest folks have posted a “don’t do this” video. In case you’re curious, the longest apple peel ever recorded as part of the contest was 387 inches.
Ferry Interesting: Fraser Shipyards in Superior will build a new 26-car ferry for Miller Boat Line in Put-in-Bay, Ohio, according to a BusinessNorth story. “We have a long tradition of building Great Lakes vessels at Fraser, including car ferries,” James Farkas, president of Fraser Industries Inc., is quoted in the story. “We are proud to be Miller Boat Line’s partner. We look forward to delivering a modern vessel that meets all of their needs.” The 140-foot-long, 38.5-foot-wide ferry will be able to carry 20 percent more cargo than the line’s current largest ferry. Set for delivery next year, it will be named the Mary Ann Market, in honor of the late matriarch of the family that owns Miller Boat Line.
End of the Line: Greyhound Canada will end bus service west of Sudbury, Ontario, on Oct. 31, which has the mayor of the small White River community near Lake Superior concerned about passengers left stranded there for 14 hours until possible pickup from Kasper Transportation west to Thunder Bay, reports Jeff Walters of the CBC. Mayor Angelo Bazzoni told Jeff that passengers will have difficulty finding somewhere to go when they make a layover of up to 14 hours in the town of 800 with only a couple of restaurants and gas stations, most of which close by 10 p.m. “None of these businesses can sustain the individuals sitting around five or six hours waiting to make connections," Angelo said. “You can't leave passengers off in small, isolated communities where nothing's open.” Besides stranding passengers, the mayor points out that the Greyhound service was critical in delivering cargo, like blood and daily rural water samples, as well as the occasional auto parts to visitors stranded on Highway 17. Even the movie theatre in Marathon, which receives its films via the bus, will be affected. Greyhound Canada announced the cancellation of service and cutting of 145 jobs in July, as reported by Ryan White of CTVNews.
Bus on Demand: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, is considering a phone-app-requested bus service for low-ridership areas of the city and outside edges of town, according to David Helwig of SooToday. “The on-demand initiative could be Sault Transit's first venture away from big, half-empty diesel buses driving fixed routes, hoping to find passengers in sparsely populated parts of the city,” David writes. The city council voted this week to invite contact from people who might be interested in such a service. Some council members feel such a service should be a private rather than public enterprise.
Underwater Gales: Though Brett Seymour is headquartered in landlocked Colorado, the assistant district chief of the National Park Service’s Submerged Resources Center is more than familiar with what’s under our nation’s waters. Brett spent several weeks this spring with a team at Isle Royale National Park taking underwater photos in preparation for creating a virtual 3D tour of the shipwrecks there. Brett will talk about that project at the Gales of November event on Nov. 2-3. The annual Gales of November is a fundraiser for the Lake Superior Marine Museum Association in Duluth. This photo of the Glenlyon was featured in the View•Point of the August/September Lake Superior Magazine.
Photo & graphic credits: National Park Service; Dennis O’Hara; University of Michigan; Superior Watershed Partnership; Bayfield Apple Festival; Fraser Shipyards; Wikipedia (2011 image); Brett Seymour.