Friends of Seney National Wildlife Refuge / Flickr
Gray Wolf
A group of wolf researchers believe the Western Great Lakes population no longer needs federal protection under the Endangered Species Act. In Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan (where this 2011 photo was taken), wolves now number an estimated 3,700.
Wolf researchers call for delisting of the species
International Wolf Center founder L. David Mech joined 25 other scientists and wildlife specialists in signing a letter this week that advocates for taking gray wolves off the endangered species list in Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin.
“There’s many people who like the wolves and don’t want to see them killed,” David said in an interview this week. He added, though, that refusing to allow them to be delisted based on sentiment over science means undermining the authority of the Endangered Species Act and might hinder the future health of the wolf population. That was the basis for the letter (PDF) this week.
Delisting of gray wolves in the Western Great Lakes Region has been something of a football since 2000 when the process first started. Gray wolves in the lower 48 states and Mexico where placed on the endangered species list in 1974, when the population south of Canada was only about 750 wolves in northern Minnesota. Since then, according to the letter sent out this week from the Timber Wolf Alliance at Northland College, the population has grown to more than 3,700.
Gray wolves were delisted from some areas in 2009, then placed back on the list through a court order, then delisted in 2011 – followed by controversial hunting and trapping in about half a dozen states, including those bordering Lake Superior – and then in December 2014, a federal court again intervened and required the gray wolf again be listed.
Several regional Ojibwe bands, for which the wolf has cultural significance, have formally opposed a hunting/trapping season and no tribal wildlife specialists are among the signers of the current letter. The Bad River Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe in Wisconsin is among the tribes that have adopted their own wolf management plans, which includes a hunting buffer 6 miles out from the reservation to protect the four packs of wolves with territories that cross it.
Agreeing with Mech, Adrian Wydeven, coordinator of the Timber Wolf Alliance, added that delisting wolves would free funding for other species in need of Endangered Species status. “It’s really important that you follow through on those delisting efforts. There are so many species that are in need of endangered species recovery.”
– Konnie LeMay
Saltie held in Duluth, federal investigation under way
Oceangoing vessels often “park” outside the Duluth-Superior harbor while waiting to load cargo, sometimes for days.
But the Cornelia, which has been at anchor for more than two weeks, isn’t waiting its turn. It’s under investigation for “alleged violations of U.S. environmental regulations,” the Duluth News Tribune reports.
After the saltie loaded grain on November 3-4, the U.S. Coast Guard held the vessel and began its probe.
On Friday morning, the Coast Guard told us it had no new information available. Details will be released after the investigation concludes.
Thunder Bay announces strong tourism numbers
Buoyed in part by the strong U.S. dollar, American visitors to Thunder Bay are up for the first time in 14 years, says Paul Pepe, the city’s manager of tourism. Overall, visitation is up 6 to 8 percent this year in Lake Superior’s largest city.
Jeff Labine has more from Paul in this Chronicle Journal story.
These aren’t just cross-border day trips, either, Paul says. Stays of two nights or more were up 23 percent in September. We’ve long been proponents of the Lake Superior Circle Tour, so we’re thrilled to see more folks exploring the northern shore of the Big Lake.
(P.S. On Monday evening at the Thunder Bay City Council’s Committee of the Whole meeting, we’ll formally present Paul with his 2015 Achievement Award.)
New lock in the Soo? The U.S. will conduct a cost-benefit study of the long-proposed twin to the Poe Lock, reports Todd Spangler in the Detroit Free Press.
Sunset cycling: Taking advantage of the warm November temps, mag contributor Molly Hoeg hopped on the bike for a ride up Minnesota’s Scenic Highway 61.
Thunder Bay skating rink and ski hill operators aren’t worried about the warmth, writes Jamie Smith for TBNewsWatch.
Lutsen’s new gondola opens next week: After five months of construction, it’ll be formally unveiled on November 27, Lutsen Mountains says. (Already nostalgic for the old “little red apple” gondola? You can buy one of the cars for $1,200.)
Mount Ashwabay receives grant: The Bayfield ski area plans to use the money “for the addition of a tubing hill and other needed infrastructure improvements,” writes Sara M. Chase in the Ashland Daily Press.
Reviving the American chestnut: Michigan Tech scientists hope the troubled species, decimated by blight in the eastern U.S., can thrive in the Keweenaw.
Paul Sundberg’s latest: The Minnesota photographer snapped images of the northern lights, Split Rock Lighthouse, wildlife and more for his Photos of the Week.