Collette Adkins said she and her husband take several canoe trips each summer into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness with their two children who are 8 and 9, and neither child has ever seen a moose.
“Not one,” Adkins said, who added that while growing up she would go to Girl Scout camp or travel up north with her family and regularly see moose.
Hoping to reverse that trend before it’s too late, Adkins, who is lead attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity, filed a petition on behalf of her group and Honor the Earth, a Native American-led group who works to create awareness and support for environmental issues with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. The petition asks that moose in Minnesota, northeastern North Dakota, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and Isle Royale and a small, newly established population in Wisconsin be protected under the federal Endangered Species Act.
In northeastern Minnesota the moose population has fallen from nearly 9,000 in 2006 to an estimated 3,500 in 2015. In fact, Moose numbers have been diminishing in most Midwestern states over the last decade.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has 90 days to determine whether or not to push the petition forward for further review.
However, said Adkins, who also has a master’s degree in wildlife conservation, “It could take a year for a first finding. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have a big backlog of similar cases to work through, so this isn’t going to be quick.”
Currently moose are listed as a “species of special concern” in Minnesota and Michigan, but that designation doesn’t offer the animals or their habitat any protection.
Minnesota cancelled its moose hunt in 2013 while North Dakota reduced the amount of issued hunter’s tags. Neither Wisconsin nor Michigan allows moose hunting.
Adkins cited habitat destruction caused by mining and logging industries and climate change as the biggest reasons for decline in moose numbers, and said she doesn’t count predation by wolves as a factor.
“Wolves and moose have coexisted for thousands of years. I certainly don’t blame wolves for falling moose numbers,” said Adkins. “I think we need to take responsibility for our own impact on moose and all of the animals. Global warming is a big problem that we have created. Warming temperatures cause an increase in ticks, diseases, and are causing moose to overheat in the summer. When moose overheat they tend to get malnourished and that weakens their immune system. Global warming also causes the boreal forest to change. This change in habitat is causing the moose habitat and food sources to move further north, which further hurts moose.
“One thing that might come from this petition is that the federal government might allocate more research dollars to the state so it can work to find solutions to save the moose,” said Adkins.
Winona LaDuke, executive director of Honor the Earth said Native people and the moozoog (moose) have coexisted with the Anishinaabe people for a thousand years. She said, “The destruction of habitat by mining and logging industries, as well as overharvesting, is destroying this relative. Any listing should include a full coordination with tribal governments and First Nations, in keeping with the treaty agreements. Our culture is tied to the moozoog and we will work to protect them.”
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