I was disappointed to see that the Grand Portage Tribal Council recently had petitioned Gov. Mark Dayton to reinstate funding for moose collaring activity in northeastern Minnesota. As the First Nation holds traditional practices in high regard, it would seem unlikely that the council would find the use of helicopters and GPS collars palatable. There is a treasure trove of accumulated knowledge about moose biology in the tribal consciousness, through decades they’ve shared the land with moose and that insight should provide intrinsic understanding of the moose population decline.
The tribal staff biologist/ statistician is leading the effort to collect volumes of data in an attempt to save the moose herd from its rapid decline. He has already claimed that 80 percent of adult moose die from parasite-related causes, likely related to climate change and increasing deer numbers. Previous DNR moose mortality study data collection results were disheartening due to calf abandonment; capture related myopathy of adult moose; faulty collar design and many moose not surviving through a full year of study.
No amount of data collection will reverse or significantly slow the effects of global climate change before moose are no longer a significant part of the northern Minnesota landscape. Climate change, loss of habitat, human intrusion into moose range through recreational activities, industry and development are creating a shift in where moose will survive into the future. About the only thing renewed GPS data collection and statistics will prove is that statisticians are good at math.
Currently there is also a concerted effort to discover why the monarch butterfly is in a similar population crash. As yet, researchers have not promoted the use of helicopter collaring of butterflies in an attempt to study the causes, netting would certainly seem a better option.
Perhaps “butterfly nets” would be precisely the tool needed to study why researchers insist on continuing the expensive non-productive practice of collaring moose in northeastern Minnesota.
Bob LaMettry
Grand Marais
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