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UPDATED: National Park Service Proposing To Bring More Wolves To Isle Royale National Park

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Wolves on Isle Royale National Park/John Vucetich, Michigan Tech University

The National Park Service has settled on a plan to introduce up to 30 wolves to Isle Royale National Park in a bid to restore vigor to the park's key predators/John Vucetich, Michigan Tech University

Editor's note: This updates with NPCA reaction to decision.

Up to 30 wolves will be set free at Isle Royale National Park over the next three years under a plan the National Park Service has settled on in a bid to bring genetic diversity back to the park's few remaining wolves.

That plan is laid out in a final environmental impact statement the Park Service released Friday morning. 

The draft EIS released in December 2016 held four options for dealing with Isle Royale's plummeting wolf population, which was thought to be down to no more than two animals. The park's moose population, meanwhile, was thought to number around 1,300. 

Chronic inbreeding appears to have impacted the health of the wolf population. There was hope that "ice bridges" that formed between the Lake Superior island and the Canadian mainland during the winter of 2013-14 would enable wolves to arrive from Canada with new genes. But no new wolves reached the island, while one female left and was killed by a gunshot wound in February 2014 near Grand Portage National Monument in Minnesota.

Isle Royale wolves have been in decline for more than a decade. In recent years, park managers have discussed island and wolf management with wildlife managers and geneticists from across the United States and Canada, and have received input during public meetings and from Native American tribes of the area. Those discussions have examined the question of whether wolves should be physically transported to Isle Royale, in large part due to concerns that a loss of the predators would lead to a boom in the moose population that likely would over-browse island vegetation.

The four alternatives contained in the draft EIS were:

* Alternative A would continue existing management practices and assume no new management actions would be implemented beyond those available at the outset of the wolf planning process. Wolves may arrive or depart independently via an ice bridge.

* Under Alternative B, between 20 and 30 wolves with a wide genetic diversity would be introduced to the island. The social makeup of introduced wolves could include packs, established pairs with pups, or unrelated individuals. Wolves may be supplemented as needed up to the third year after initial introduction. After the third year, should an unforeseen event occur that impacts the wolf population, such as a mass die-off or introduction of disease, and the goals of the alternative are not being met due to this event, wolves may be supplemented for an additional two years.

* Alternative C would involve the initial introduction of a smaller number of wolves than Alternative B. The social makeup of introduced wolves could include an established pair with pups, or a pack, as well as unrelated individuals. The NPS would bring wolves to the island as often as needed in order to maintain a population of wolves on the island for at least the next 20 years.

* Under Alternative D, the NPS would not take immediate action and would continue current management, allowing natural processes to continue. This alternative is meant to continue the study of island ecosystem changes without an apex predator and only take action should the weight of evidence suggest an apex predator is necessary for the ecosystem to function. Resource indicators, such as population size and growth rate of moose, would be used to determine if and when wolf introduction actions should be taken. If the weight of evidence indicates wolf introduction actions should be taken, the NPS would follow procedures outlined within Alternative C.

Alternative B was selected as the preferred alternative in the final EIS, which will be open for at least 30 days of review before the Park Service can finalize it. Once the EIS is finalized, wolves could begin to be transported to the park.

Complete groups of wolves, such as packs or pairs with pups, may be released simultaneously as a group with multiple groups distributed across the island, while unrelated wolves would be released in spatially disparate areas to minimize conflict.

At the National Parks Conservation Assocation, the decision was applauded.

“Given the recent confirmation of just two wolves remaining, this announcement could not come at a better time," said Christine Goepfert, NPCA's senior program manager for the Midwest Region. "Wolves play a critical role as the top predator at Isle Royale, and their dwindling numbers have resulted in a rising moose population, which will devastate native vegetation, ultimately eliminating the food source for the moose. The Park Service plan to introduce new wolves is based on an extensive environmental analysis that reflects input from scientific experts across the country. This is a sound approach to help guarantee that this iconic species will not disappear from Isle Royale.”

The final EIS notes that the preferred alternative would have "substantial impacts to wilderness character overall because of the intentional manipulation of the biophysical environment and the subsequent changes from current condition. However," it continues, "(the alternative) would likely restore an ecological function previously present on the island, thus benefiting the natural quality."

Comments

Great news!  (Surprised I missed this story from March.)


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