By DAN ROBLEE

droblee@mininggazette.com

Michigan Tech researchers John Vucetich and Rolf Peterson released a brief statement Wednesday in response to the National Parks Service’s request for public comment on potential plans to resolve wolf/moose population issues on Isle Royale.

Vucetich and Peterson are co-leaders of a world-famous study that has tracked wolves and moose on Isle Royale since 1958.

“(We) observe that most scientists understand that a healthy wolf population is a vital component of ecosystem health,” they wrote. “It also seems to us that most members of the public are supportive of maintaining a healthy wolf population.”

According the NPS release, only two wolves were counted in the annual survey on the island this winter, one down from last year’s count. That continues a trend of wolf decline and associated spiking moose numbers researchers have been concerned about for years.

In the past, researchers have said the lack of a viable wolf population on the island to control moose numbers will likely lead to moose overgrazing balsam fir and other plants they eat. That could lead to a boom/bust moose cycle with deforestation as they overfeed, and mass moose die-offs when food sources are exhausted.

In the past, Vucetich has said the decision-making process should have been started sooner, and expressed concern that rampant moose could harm the island’s ecology by the time action is taken. His and Peterson’s statement didn’t weigh in on whether the new comment period was likely to slow the process, but repeated his concern.

“We hope that the NPS acts before long-term damage is done to the forest by the rapidly growing moose population,” they wrote.

Green said the new comment period does not affect NPS’s schedule to release a management plan by late 2017, with the earliest potential wolf introduction in 2018.

She acknowledged the federal management process is “bureaucratically laden” and “goes through a lot of gates in Washington.”

NPS is more concerned with how to do a potential wolf introduction right, though, she said, adding NPS is not rushing to see the island’s wolves become part of a potential new genetic pool.

“We have always recognized the current population may become extirpated (locally extinct),” she said. “But they’re also very in-bred, so genetic rescue is problematic. Even if they outlast the planning process, we’re just worried about how to do the reintroduction.”