Isle Royale Forums

There has been much discussion here on the future of wolves on IR. The NPS and the researchers are seeking public input on what should be done with the current population of wolves on IR. If you wish to take part in helping to determine the outcome of this issue, here is what you need to do:

The wolves of Isle Royale National Park



The National Park Service is interested to receive your input on the pending decision regarding the future management of wolves on Isle Royale. Please send your input to the following email address:



ISRO_Wildlife@nps.gov (note the “underscore” between ISRO and Wildlife)



The Park Service is considering three options: (1) do nothing, even if wolves go extinct; (2) allow wolves to go extinct (if that is what they do), and then introduce a new wolf population; or (3) conserve Isle Royale wolves with an action known as genetic rescue by bringing some wolves to the island to mitigate inbreeding.



While expressing your view, consider providing as much detail on the reasons for your preference, as the Park Service believes the reasons for your view are as important as your view. If you have any questions on the process or anything relating to providing input, please do not hesitate to ask me.



Thank you for considering the future of this national park!

Rolf Peterson

Michigan Technological University

ropeters@mtu.edu

Good article about the IR Wolf options:
http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/inte ... olves.html

And another:
http://blog.nature.org/science/2013/10/ ... disappear/

Thanks for posting those. Both good reads, long but good reads.

After much thought and review of info, I sent my comments in to the NPS.

I emailed my thoughts and opinion last week. I had been waiting for the government shutdown to be over for a little while, so that my email hopefully wouldn't be lost in a sea of unread messages. It's nice that we've been invited to contribute to the decision-making process - I wonder how many people are weighing in and what type of impact it will have.

Just announced: In conjunction with the upcoming Isle Royale NP Cultural Resource Management Plan meetings, the NPS will have informational meetings about wolf management from 3-5 pm on the same dates in the same cities: Houghton (12th) and Chelsea (14th) in MI, and St. Paul (19th) and Duluth (20th) in MN. The cultural resources meetings are 6-8 pm.

The public meeting schedule is as follows:

Public Meeting 1: Houghton, Michigan
Date: November 12, 2013
Location: Franklin Square Inn, 820 Shelden Avenue
Time: 3-5pm (Presentation at 3:30 followed by open house)

Public Meeting 2: Chelsea, Michigan
Date: November 14, 2013
Location: Chelsea Depot, 125 Jackson Street
Time: 3-5pm (Presentation at 3:30 followed by open house)

Public Meeting 3: St. Paul, Minnesota
Date: November 19, 2013
Location: TBA.
Time: 3-5pm (Presentation at 3:30 followed by open house)

Public Meeting 4: Duluth, Minnesota
Date: November 20, 2013
Location: Environmental Protection Agency Mid-Continent Ecology Division Laboratory, 6201 Congdon Boulevard
Time: 3-5pm (Presentation at 3:30 followed by open house)

Questions on the meetings can be directed to:
Paul Brown: Chief of Natural Resources
Isle Royale National Park
800 East Lakeshore Drive
Houghton, Michigan 49931-1895
906.487.7154
paul_brown@nps.gov

Article about the meeting in Houghton last night.
http://www.mininggazette.com/page/conte ... l?nav=5006

Updated information for the St. Paul meeting:
Public Meeting 3: St. Paul, Minnesota
Date: November 19, 2013
Location: 111 Kellogg Blvd., East, 2nd Floor conference room
Time: 3-5pm (Presentation at 3:30 followed by open house)

Good paper on wolf issue:

http://www.nps.gov/isro/naturescience/u ... 97-1-2.pdf

Lots of good info here:
http://www.nps.gov/isro/naturescience/i ... gement.htm

And more info:
http://wildernesswatch.wordpress.com/20 ... ilderness/

From the NPS website, the St. Paul meetings today are in two different locations:

Wolf Management Meeting is 3-5pm at 111 Kellogg Blvd. E., 2nd floor conference room.
Cultural Resorce Management Plan is 6-8pm at the Minnesota History Center.