A recent column about the 23 percent one-year decline in the Arrowhead moose herd prompted responses from a small handful of folks who are knowledgeable about moose and aspects of the present situation. Some of their views are shared here. With one exception, I’ve identified folks with a description of their background rather than a name.
“…When you have a critter that for a century has lived on the southern edge of its range, and during that century the temperature has gone up 2-4 degrees F, the writing is on the wall”
A recent column about the 23 percent one-year decline in the Arrowhead moose herd prompted responses from a small handful of folks who are knowledgeable about moose and aspects of the present situation. Some of their views are shared here. With one exception, I’ve identified folks with a description of their background rather than a name.
John Halvorson with the regional affairs office of Senator Norm Coleman emailed to inform me that he had recently contacted the US Fish and Wildlife Service to advocate for moose research funding through tribal wildlife grants program. This funding would allow the continuation of the ongoing moose research project near Isabella.
The project is a cooperative effort with partners including the Fond du Lac Ojibwe Band and the Minnesota DNR. According to a recent press release, a total of 116 moose were radio-collared and monitored. So far, 80 moose have died. Most were located and recovered for study. Hunters, wolves, or vehicle collisions killed some moose; but for many, the cause of death was unexplained.
The research is inconclusive. Many moose are malnourished, even though they live in habitat with ample food. Biologists suspect the moose are stressed by hot summer weather. Summer heat, rather than winter cold, determines where moose live. Northern Minnesota is on the southern edge of their range.
“There is no moose disease called climate change,” stated a retired Minnesota
biologist in a recent email. He believes that in recent years moose have been subjected to heat-related stress much of the year due to abnormally mild temperatures. He asks how any of us feel during an extended hot spell and then points out how it may feel for a 1,000-pound, black moose. He believes the moose experience systems failure—their body functions fall below peak efficiency.
“…When you have a critter that for a century has lived on the southern edge of its range, and during that century the temperature has gone up 2-4 degrees F, the writing is on the wall,” he wrote.
Another retired biologist with plenty of field experience isn’t so sure that heat-stress is the culprit. He points out that western moose in places such as Montana are subjected to hotter summer temperatures and thrive. Mild Minnesota winters have led to an increase in the Arrowhead deer herd. He thinks moose are more likely to contract the brain worm parasite, which transmitted by whitetails.
The brain worm parasite is not easy to detect in autopsies. Saving moose from brain worm means greatly reducing deer densities within moose habitat, a task that hunters and timber wolves are unlikely to accomplish without some assistance from Old Man Winter.
Since the cause of the moose decline isn’t understood, land managers don’t know what steps they can take to address it. In the Superior National Forest, budgets have been greatly reduced. Nationally, The US Forest Service has changed priorities—50 percent of the budget is devoted to fire suppression and related management. On the Superior, less timber is being harvested…and cut-overs are prime moose habitat.
In another email, Halvorson said The Minnesota Deer Hunters Association informed Senator Coleman of their concerns regarding moose habitat management on the Superior National Forest last year. The Senator’s office spoke with Forest Service officials and asked them to take habitat management more into account. In other correspondence with the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the Senator argued the moose is extremely important to the identity of the northwoods.
As far as budgetary issues, Senator Coleman recently got an amendment to the federal budget resolution to fully fund national forests in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan for fiscal year 2008. This means about $50 million for the forests in these three states and would allow a number of projects on the Superior National Forest to move forward.
Writes Halvorson of the funding boost: “While I can see the number of timber contracts increasing, this wouldn’t necessarily change the TYPE of cuts… The fact is that thinning projects are met with far less opposition than clear cuts and seem to be more popular within the Forest Service.
Unfortunately for the moose, it doesn’t seem that the thinning projects are as beneficial as clear cuts.”
Minnesota’s moose are lucky to have someone of Senator Coleman’s stature in their corner. It is apparent this signature species of the boreal forest and the canoe country will need a little—make that a lot—of help along the way.