Wolf census in MI mitten

[Emily]

from the Cheboygan Michigan Daily Tribune
http://www.cheboygannews.com/articles/2 ... /news6.txt



Local News

DNR seeks help in finding N. Mich. wolves

By MARK SPENCLEY


Tribune Staff Writer

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has launched a survey to identify the presence of wolves in Northern Michigan.

DNR officials will focus their attention on the northernmost counties in the Lower Peninsula, including Cheboygan and Emmet.

Survey teams will began conducting the survey in mid-February and will continue through March 10, and DNR officials said that public input will be vital to the success of the survey.

This year there will be a targeted search approach, said DNR Wildlife Biologist Brian Mastenbrook. Survey teams will be searching areas where there have been one or more public observations of wolves.

Sightings from earlier in the year will be considered, but sightings during the survey period will be especially important, he later noted. Given the low probability that tracks will be found, public reports are very important in helping the DNR identify potential wolf locations.

“If the public finds anything related to wolves, we are encouraging them to preserve the physical evidence or take photographs, and then contact us as soon as possible so that we can follow up with field investigations,” explained Mastenbrook. “The goal of the survey is to verify the presence of wolves both in the area where we previously confirmed tracks and detect new occurrences in other parts of the region.”

Wolves began naturally returning to the Michigan's Upper Peninsula via Canada and Wisconsin in the early 1990s, according to DNR officials. Today, the U.P. is home to at least 500 wolves.

Following the accidental killing of a wolf in Presque Isle County in 2004, the DNR also confirmed two other gray wolves in the northern Lower Peninsula in 2005.

The DNR is asking the public to report any sightings of wolves or tracks they believe were made by wolves during the survey period which runs through March 10 to the DNR Gaylord office at 989-732-3541, ext. 5901.

The DNR is partnering in this survey effort with USDA Wildlife Services, Central Michigan University and the Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians.