Norman Deschampe, chairman of the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, recently contacted Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton and asked him to rescind his moratorium on state moose collaring research.
“We would like to see the resumption of DNR-conducted and permitted research and funding so that informed decisions are made to benefit moose and that the effectiveness of these decisions can be fully evaluated. Our partnerships with MN DNR [Minnesota Department of Natural Resources] and others they authorize to conduct moose research have been mutually beneficial and we wish to see those partnerships continue. We think that a broad moose research community provides the greatest long-term benefit to the species,” Deschampe wrote in a July 2 letter.
The letter was sent to Dayton from the Grand Portage Reservation Tribal Council on behalf of the Band. Other members on the council include Dennis Morrison, John Morrin, Marie Spry and Rob Hull.
Deschampe asked the governor to withdraw his executive order on collaring because it was hurting the Band’s efforts to find out what is causing the demise of Minnesota’s moose.
Governor Dayton called for the executive order following the unusually high mortality rate of radio-collared moose, especially for newborns that were collared one to three days after birth in an infant mortality study conducted by DNR research scientist Glenn Deleguidice in 2013 and 2014.
In his letter, Deschampe made it known that moose are, “a species of immeasurable value to our subsistence and culture.”
In 2006 there was an estimated 8,800 moose in northeastern Minnesota. Today the DNR estimates there are 3,450, roughly a 60 percent drop in numbers. But just what is causing the dramatic die-off has wildlife researchers and scientists scrambling to find answers.
“Our tribal government has invested heavily in moose research and restoration and strives to see the eventual restoration of a sustainable population in Minnesota. We are committed to determine causes of the population decline and to identifying solutions to change the declining trajectory of the population,” wrote Deschampe.
The letter was also sent to Minnesota DNR Commissioner Tom Landwehr and the three co-chairs of the Legislative Commission on Minnesota Resources, Nancy Gibson, David Tomassoni, and Jean Wagenius.
While the state has had some problems with radio collared moose dying, Grand Portage, which has collared moose since 2009, has had fewer problems, although some animals will perish do to the stress of capture/ collar, and Deschampe addressed this in his letter.
“Minimizing the harm to individual animals is a key component of study design; however, it is impossible to conduct this type of research without affecting some individuals. All studies of this type have the highest possible animal welfare standards, which are typically reviewed and approved by outside entities. When studies reach unacceptable levels of injury to individuals they are reevaluated and revised. This is a necessary process in science and allows for continual improvement.
“Unfortunately, without this type of research, the cost to the entire moose population is even greater as the factors that cause the population decline cannot be determined, sound management actions cannot be developed without data, and the effects of management decisions on the moose population can never be accurately measured.”
Grand Portage has long collaborated with moose research with the Minnesota DNR, the University of Minnesota, the Minnesota Zoo, Natural Resources Research Institute, Voyageurs National Park, and several federal, tribal, and intertribal agencies.
“We ask that you re-evaluate your decision to halt moose collaring research and carefully consider the implications of the loss of this necessary government led sponsored research to the Minnesota moose population, to the citizens of Minnesota and beyond, and to the culture and identity of the Grand Portage Band and other subsistence communities relying on healthy populations of moose. …” wrote Deschampe, who also asked the governor to visit “us in the heart of Minnesota’s moose range” and discuss moose research and findings with him.
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