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UP ‘Wolf Abundance Project’ aims to find accurate wolf count
DNR Wildlife Research Specialist Tyler Petroelje said being confident in the number of wolves will let the state accurately manage the population when the wolves are de-listed from the Federal Endangered Species Act.
ESCANABA, Mich. (WLUC) - A new research project on wolves in the U.P. is using new estimator tools to ensure the wolf count in the U.P. is accurate.
Researchers from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Division and Michigan State University are working to better identify the number of wolves across the U.P. through the “Wolf Abundance Project.”
“When we’re talking about wolf abundance, we’re talking about how many wolves occur in the Upper Peninsula,” said Tyler Petroelje, DNR wildlife research specialist.
Petroelje said being confident in the number of wolves will let the state accurately manage the population when the wolves are de-listed from the Federal Endangered Species Act.
The current estimator indicates the minimum number of wolves in the U.P., which is 631 during the winter.
“Now that wolves have recovered and densities have increased, we are looking at new tools that will be a little bit more cost savings for us and also give us better precision to estimate wolf abundance across the U.P.,” Petroelje said.
These tools include 1,230 wildlife trail cams placed across the U.P.
“These cameras are a great way to detect wolves,” Petroelje said. “They like to travel these low-use roads and trails that we put these cameras on.”
The project was unveiled today at the joint Eastern & Western Upper Peninsula Citizen’s Advisory Councils’ annual meeting. Most of the people at Wednesday’s meeting will stay overnight and attend the Natural Resources Commission (NRC) meeting on Thursday, where wolves are also on the agenda.
“Well, wolves have been an emotional topic,” said Tom Baird, NRC chair. “Wolves are on the landscape up here, and people are living with them and thinking about them quite a bit.”
Commission members said new rules for northern pike fishing regulations on U.P. lakes will also be presented. They encourage everyone to attend.
“Anybody can walk in off the street, sign in and speak,” said Dave Anthony, NRC U.P. commissioner. “They can be allotted three minutes to present and ask questions.”
The NRC meeting starts at 8 a.m. at Bay College on Thursday.
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