ISLE ROYALE, MI - Months after it outlined its preferred plan to bring in wolves to bolster Isle Royale's dwindling predator population, the National Park Service on Thursday authorized staff to move forward with the logistics of capturing and relocating up to 30 more wolves for the remote island in Lake Superior.

The island's once-healthy wolf packs have now dwindled to two older, related wolves who have little hope of producing viable offspring. Meanwhile, the island is home to an ever-increasing moose population - pegged at around 1,600 - that has no apex predator.

Left unchecked, concerns were that a burgeoning moose population could overbrowse the island's vegetation, damaging the wilderness experience so many hikers seek there.

"This decision is an important step forward in attempting to obtain a proper predator-prey dynamic within the Isle Royale National Park ecosystem," said Midwest Regional Director Cam Sholly. "We appreciate the intense public involvement throughout this process and look forward to continued outreach as this decision is implemented."

Isle Royale sits in the northwest portion of Lake Superior. It's about 15 miles from the Canadian border, and 56 miles from Michigan's Upper Peninsula mainland.

Wolves crossed over to the island on ice bridges in the 1940s, researches said. But any wolves that may have come over when ice bridges have formed in recent years have not stayed.

It will be interesting to see how introducing wolves at Isle Royale is done, compared to how the NPS handled the Yellowstone wolf reintroduction several years ago.

The park service's preliminary plan has already outlined how the capture, transportation and pack relocation of 20-30 wolves might happen.

Bringing in that many wolves from forests of the Great Lakes region would pull up the island's wolf population to its historical average.

Someone may want to warn the moose they're going to have some fast new neighbors - with sharp teeth.

"(It is) expected to have an immediate effect on the island moose population, which has not been subject to predator pressure for some time and is increasing," Sholly said.



"Without this action, the extirpation of wolves was expected, which raised concerns about possible effects to the current Isle Royale ecosystem, including impacts of an unchecked moose population and its indirect effect on forest/vegetation communities.

"Although wolves have not always been part of Isle Royale, they have been present for more than 65 years, and have played a key role in the ecosystem."



For decades, members of the Isle Royale Wolf and Moose Project, based out of Michigan Tech University in Houghton, have been tracking both species on the island. They've documented the remaining two wolves, sharing their findings on social media.

As this experiment progresses, MTU's researchers will likely be the boots on the ground to capture the changes this brings to the island, and document how the new wolves organize themselves into family units.

Unknown right now is if this new plan means the island could close to visitors earlier than normal this fall to accommodate bringing in the new wolves.