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Time to hate wolves -- again?
Editor:
In the September 21 Daily Mining Gazette I read of legislation proposed in the State House to require hunting and trapping of gray wolves in Michigan if and when the species is removed from the federal list of endangered species. This is not the first time, and probably not the last, for such a proposal. What is new, of course, is that voters go to the polls in another month and will see the names of the sponsor and co-sponsor, respectively, of the proposed bill – state Representatives Dave Prestin, R-Cedar River, and Greg Markkanen, R-Hancock. Prestin's news release implies that an "exploding" wolf population in the U.P. is threatening the economy by decimating deer and moose populations. Nothing could be further from the truth. There has been virtually no change in wolf and moose numbers in mainland U.P. for at least a decade, and deer fluctuate mostly with winter severity. Fear-mongering about wolves has often played well for U.P. politicians who prefer political theater over reality as a campaign tactic.
Might it even be beneficial to have wolves on the landscape? Car-deer accidents have been shown to decline in Wisconsin counties with wolves (Raynor et al, 2021, Proceedings of the Nat'l. Acad. Science), which saves human lives. There is increasing evidence that wolves and other large carnivores provide a firewall against the spread of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in deer (Brandell et al. 2022, Journal of Animal Ecology), considered the "greatest threat to hunting in North America" (Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, https://www.trcp.org/). CWD is spreading in deer in lower Michigan but virtually absent in the U.P. (U.S. Geological Survey and MI DNR). Wolves (and deep snow) may actually help the state's small moose population in the Michigamme Highlands by decreasing deer density in late winter, thereby protecting moose from the fatal effects of a brainworm that is carried by most deer in the U.P. Brainworm is a risk to moose survival identified over 50 years ago (Anderson 1963, Canadian Journal of Zoology).
Residents of Michigan can be proud to have wolves back in the state after they were driven to virtual extinction in the 1950s. In public referenda over the past decade in Michigan, citizens have voted twice against a wolf hunt. Wolf recovery in the U.P. in the past 35 years should be a cause for celebration, not an excuse for hatred.
Rolf Peterson
Houghton
Native plant sale a success
Editor:
The Wild Ones Keweenaw Chapter would like to thank everyone who helped make this summer’s native plant sales a huge success. We’ve reached more gardeners than ever before through our online store, area farmers’ markets, Bridgefest, the Houghton-Keweenaw Conservation District Diamond Jubilee and the Copper Country Strawberry Festival. We would particularly like to thank the Keweenaw Food Co-op for hosting a mega-sale Sept. 3.
As a result, close to 2,000 native plants have found their way into local landscapes, where they create food and habitat for wildlife, especially the monarch butterflies that recently migrated through the Keweenaw.
Revenue from these sales underwrites Wild Ones’ many activities, including the talk “The Flora of Isle Royale,” by local botanist Abraham Stone, which will be held at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 20, in room G002 of Michigan Tech’s U.J. Noblet Forestry Building. The presentation is free, and everyone is welcome. More information is available at keweenaw.wildones.org.
Marcia Goodrich
Houghton
George! Come Back!
Editor:
George! Come back! I'm sorry for all the bad things I said about your presidency. I never dreamed that a dictator could slide us into tyranny.
Trump who would like to be a dictator is a poster boy for egotism and narcissism.
Dictators glorify themselves by embellishing the nation with their names and images. Trump and his administration have tried to rename the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, began the process of adding his signature to the dollar bill, held a lavish military parade for him, created the Trump Gold Card, which sells legal residency for more than $1 million, posted pictures in which Trump is a companion of Washington or depicted as Jesus, hung banners of Trump from government buildings, ironically renamed the U.S. Institute of Peace after Trump, created a $1 coin bearing Trump's face, created commemorative passports with Trump's portrait, announced a new class of warship named after Trump, and lavished praise that Trump is the best president this country has ever had.
Incredibly, Trump compared himself to Lincoln.
Has any other sitting president personally promoted or caused this many government assets and programs to bear his own name or likeness? Trump’s second term of self-glorification is unprecedented. Historically, presidents have frequently had things named after them, but usually after they left office or died, and typically as memorials or institutions honoring their legacy.
Trump, a convicted felon with visions of grandeur, is an apparent psychopath.
He is embarrassing and a disgrace to the United States.
David Keranen
Bakersfield, CA