Moose 1,475, Wolves 2: These numbers sound like an unfair matchup between two sporting teams, and indeed they are ill matched. These are the latest population figures released by researchers at Michigan Technological University for the moose and wolf populations on Isle Royale. Allison Mills of Michigan Tech summarized the 2017-18 Winter Study in a story for the university. The study of the predator-prey relationship is 60 years old, the longest continuous such study, but the ebb-and-flow balance of the two island populations will no longer exist unless the National Park Service decides to reintroduce wolves. The last remaining wolves are a father-daughter pair, which share the same mother. In-breeding was one issue for the wolves, which have been cut off from new migrations since a winter ice bridge from island to mainland has grown increasingly rare or short-lived. The wolf population was at 24 in 2009, nearer the historic average of 18 of 27. Loss of wolves on the island has an impact far beyond one less species there. As long-time Michigan Tech wolf-moose researcher Rolf Peterson once put it, "If you love trees, you love wolves." Unchecked, moose might actually decimate their own food sources, putting their population in danger as well. NPS has proposed introducing 20 to 30 wolves over the next three years. The final decision was pending the release of the wolf-moose study this week.
A Broad View: The magnificent murals in Ashland, already designated as "The Historic Mural Capital of Wisconsin," grew to 19 with the Mother's Day unveiling of "The Women of Ashland," portraying a "quilt" of 32 "powerful, good-hearted Women of Ashland who helped form and make this city what it is today," according to a release announcing the new painting. The mural is on the Vaughn Avenue side of Moore's Army Navy building. Ashland will offer Mural Tours aboard the Trolley Bus on Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays, starting on June 22 and on September 8 will celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the Historic Murals during a Mural Fest and Car Show downtown. This mural was painted by local artist Susan Prentice Martinsen, who has worked from the beginning on the murals, often with Kelly Meredith. Another portrait mural is being planned for DePadua Catholic High School and sponsors are being sought.
Don't Get in a Pickerel Pickle: If you intend to join in the pickerel (aka walleye) fishing opener in Ontario on Saturday, make sure you have your legal license on you, Conservation Officer Davis Viehbeck told the Chronicle-Journal of Thunder Bay. “One thing that we often see is that anglers are forgetting to have their licence on their person, which is a legal requirement.” The season officially opens at 12:01 a.m. Saturday and officers from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry will be out this weekend to check anglers for the proper paperwork.
Sault Knight: A Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, actor has become the face of Las Vegas hockey, reports Derek Turner for SooToday. It's Sault native Mark Shunock's job to rouse the crowd for the Vegas Golden Knights, a newbie team but currently first in the Pacific Division. Mark, the team's in-game host, moved to Las Vegas to be in a musical after acting in New York and Los Angeles. “I was essentially born with skates on and grew up in Memorial Gardens,” Mark says he told the Golden Knights' crew when seeking to become involved with the brand-new team, in part from a longing for home. Mark indeed comes from hockey stock. His dad, Dr. George Shunock, spearheaded a $1 million campaign to “Save the Greyhounds,” the local Soo Greyhounds hockey club, from being sold to Detroit, Michigan, and he was president of the team when it went three years straight to the Canadian Hockey League's Memorial Cup Tournament. George is a 2007 inductee into the Sault Ste. Marie Hockey Hall of Fame.
40 Years of Skywalking: Duluth's Skywalk system turns 40 this year. Jack Nissen of the Duluth News Tribune reports on the changing downtown and the changing system. The Holiday Center hosted the first section of the Skywalk, completed in 1978, and has a downtown/Canal Park map that shows the Skywalk links as well as other attractions, landmarks and parks.
An Artistic Tribute: A tribute to the Marines painted by Minnesota artist Charles Kapsner will be on display at The Depot in Duluth, from now until May 22, reports Chris Allen for KOOL101.7. The oil painting is 8x10 feet and will be just outside Veterans Memorial Hall, which is sponsoring the exhibit, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The artist used veterans and active duty military personnel as models for the painting. The work also includes soil from Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima that was ground into the paint as part of the depiction of the famous Marine flag-raising in 1945. This is the fourth in a series of five paintings Charles is doing to honor each military branch. Split Rock Lighthouse figures prominently in one of the earlier paintings, a tribute to the U.S. Coast Guard (seen in this photo posted by the Veterans Educational Historic Monument). His last painting will pay tribute to the Air Force, then all the paintings will be on permanent display in Committal Hall at the Minnesota State Veterans Cemetery in Little Falls.
Honoring the Fallen: The first on the list is Marquette County Deputy Sheriff John Kohl, killed while responding to a drunken disturbance with an armed man in a Negaunee, Michigan, bar. John, a former Union solider, died at age 39 in 1885. The most recent on the list is Wisconsin State Patrol Trooper Trevor Casper, gunned down during a shootout with a bank robber at Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. At age 21, he is the youngest officer killed in the line of duty in the state. To honor all 79 names on the list of officers killed in the line of duty, first to latest, 100 law enforcement officers representing 65 agencies from the Upper Peninsula and northern Wisconsin gathered in Crystal Falls, Michigan, on Wednesday as part of an annual Upper Peninsula Peace Officers Memorial Service, reports Nikki Younk of the Iron Mountain Daily News. Of the 79 on the list, 27 were from U.P. agencies, 10 were U.P. natives, 11 were from bordering Wisconsin agencies and 31 from bordering Canadian agencies, Nikki notes. The tribute takes place in a different U.P. location each year.
A Bad Break: Duluth's Wednesday night sailboat races took a bad turn this week when temperatures dropped from 80° F to 48° F in 20 minutes "just as the sailboats entered the Big Lake," according to photographer Dennis O'Hara who posted a time-lapse video. "Ten minutes later a sailboat was swept into the Lift Bridge as it attempted to make safe harbor." The out-of-control sailboat resulted from the sudden wind shifts at the same time, with the wind speeding up from 9 mph to 25 mph and 38 mph gusts. The sailboat's mast snapped, but the crew was uninjured. According to Paul Walsh of the Star Tribune, "The four people aboard the 24-foot-long vessel were scrambling to avoid being pitched into the chilly Lake Superior waters or getting conked by the descending mast." On the pier watching the sailboats, Jocquain Figueroa also took some amazing video.
Dylan on Display: Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum hosts an opening reception 6 p.m. Saturday for an exhibition of rare Bob Dylan items such as handwritten lyrics, inscribed books, photographs, record albums and other pieces from the William Pagel Archives. William and David Pichaske, author of Songs of the North Country: A Midwest Framework to the Songs of Bob Dylan, will both speak. The exhibit, which continues through Aug. 31, is part of the Duluth Dylan Fest celebrating the work and influence of Duluth’s native son. Festival events will include a Big Wu concert Sunday at The Sports Garden to benefit Armory Arts & Music Center. A Dylan-related art installation called “Shakespeare’s in the Alley: A Tribute to Bob Dylan” is described by the Duluth News Tribune’s Christa Lawler. There will be an opening reception Wednesday for the collection of 44 large panels, hand-stenciled with song lyrics, in the Duluth Depot’s Great Hall. Another Karpeles talk by Richard F. Thomas, author of Why Dylan Matters will be 1 p.m. May 27.
Photo & graphic credits: Michigan Tech; Ashland Area Chamber of Commerce; Mark Shunock; Charles Kaspner; Dennis O'Hara.