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December 27, 2005Wolf survey keeps plugging awayNo sightings have been confirmedGAYLORD - Not many strides were made this year toward confirmation of gray wolves in northern Lower Michigan, but officials agree the elusive canines likely are here."During the track survey we didn't find any signs," said Brian Roell, wolf coordinator for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. However, residents of the Lower Peninsula continue to call in visual observations, he said. "Just because we didn't find anything then doesn't mean they're not there," Roell said. Twenty-four people spent more than 400 hours driving backwoods roads and trails, looking without success for signs of wolves north of M-32 during a two-week survey in February and March. Participants came from the DNR, U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services, Central Michigan University and the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians. None of the dozens of track sightings called in by area residents were confirmed during the survey because blowing snow destroyed the prints before officials arrived. However, several sets of tracks were confirmed near where a 70-pound female wolf was killed by a coyote trapper in October 2004 in Presque Isle County. Roell said officials inspected photographs taken of tracks in Otsego County last week. A state trooper called in a possible dead wolf on the shoulder of Old State Road on Dec. 12, but the carcass was gone by the time a DNR conservation officer arrived. "They looked wolflike, however, the stride lengths were a little long and the tracks were a little small. From the evidence, it could or could not be from a wolf," Roell said. Logistics for a 2006 wolf track survey in the Lower Peninsula will be finalized in January. "We want to see more effort in some areas. We want to focus where we've had reports, because some parts were missed last time," Roell said. "Hopefully we've jumped over the learning curve." State wildlife biologist Brian Mastenbrook is the director of the Lower Peninsula wolf survey and said this year's effort would be longer, perhaps from the middle of February to March. He also said what appears to be a hard winter ahead may improve odds for trackers. "It may concentrate the deer herd and that helps. If the deer are more concentrated, the wolves are more concentrated." Mastenbrook said.
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