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February 6, 2005Wolf survey beginningBiologists, tribe will be looking for tracksByRecord-Eagle staff writer GAYLORD - Wildlife biologists soon will comb the woods north of M-32 by truck, snowmobile and even on snowshoes looking for wolf tracks. The two-week survey starts Feb. 21 and runs through March 4. Brian Mastenbrook, a biologist for the state Department of Natural Resources and wolf coordinator for lower Michigan, said the search will center around northern Montmorency and southern Presque Isle counties, where a wolf was killed in a trap in October and a pair of tracks was confirmed in December. "Hopefully, we'll detect their presence," Mastenbrook said, adding that the "shotgun" approach to monitoring wolves is a limited first-time effort in lower Michigan. "It's by no means a complete survey. There is no complete survey for free-ranging wildlife species." The program does not yet include capture of wolves in the Lower Peninsula, nor radio-collar tracking, Mastenbrook said. Biologists with the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians Natural Resources Department were enlisted to participate in the search. They will attend a training session on Feb. 18 to learn the state's protocol for the survey. The tribe has been tracking wolves since 1997. Archie Kiogima, a tribal biologist, said reports of wolves began nearly a decade ago on the reservation. "We started tracking then," he said, adding that the volunteer team repeatedly found what they believed were wolf tracks, but state officials never confirmed their findings. A recent federal court ruling in Oregon overturned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's downgrading of wolves from endangered to threatened. As a result, the DNR will continue to move wolves that cause problems with pets or livestock in the Upper Peninsula but cannot kill any of those animals. State DNR director Rebecca Humphries said she has asked Fish and Wildlife officials to clarify within the next week what the Oregon court ruling means before getting the state involved, in efforts to ensure the rule does apply here. Residents of lower Michigan north of M-32 who find tracks or are able to photograph wolves during the survey period, Feb. 21 through March 4, should call the DNR office in Gaylord at (989) 732-3541.
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