A Northwoods Almanac for July 2 – July 8, 2010
June Rains!
We received at least 11 inches of rain this month in our very unofficial garden rain gauge here in Manitowish, far exceeding the amount we had received all year up to this point. Water levels have come up dramatically in rivers and in drainage lakes, but still have a very long way to go in our area’s seepage lakes, which remain at historic lows.
Roy Eckerg at the National Weather Service-Green Bay recently put together an exceptional summary of the “Historical Droughts Across North Central and Northeast Wisconsin Since 1900.” His data provide all the necessary background to conclude that the 2003-2010 drought is the worst on historical record for North Central Wisconsin. For comparison, the drought that most people recall was the Dust Bowl from 1930 to 1937. That drought peaked in 1936, with July 1936 going down in the record books as having the most days in the 100s in a given month, and also recording the most consecutive days with highs above 100 degrees. The hardest hit areas in northern Wisconsin were in the northeast from Oconto to Marinette, with Oconto experiencing a deficit over the 8-year period of 64 inches of precipitation. The Dust Bowl years were far less intense in our area, with Rhinelander only recording a deficit of 22 inches, Phelps 17 inches, and Minocqua 14 inches.
I wrote last week that the highest deficit during this current drought, which began in 2003, was recorded at the Rest Lake dam in Manitowish Waters – a deficit of 59 inches – with the Rice Reservoir in Tomahawk not far behind at nearly 56 inches.
The last drought of significance in our area prior to this one occurred from 1987 to 1989. Rhinelander recorded the highest deficit during that time at 33 inches, with Phelps at 23 inches and Minocqua showing a deficit of 14 inches.
So, given that in the Lakeland region no drought in the 20th century can hold a candle to this one, the June rains have been particularly welcome! While they have put a damper on some recreation, we remain desperately in need of them.
Sightings
Mary Kaminski spotted a red-headed woodpecker on her property bordering the Chequamegon Forest, a species she hadn’t seen in 20 years.
Joe Tennesen reported a male scarlet tanager stopped by at his birdbath to enjoy a drink, a rarity to see at one’s feeders or birdbath.
We ate our first wild blueberry on June 27, a very early date.
Many orchid species are currently in flower. In a recent hike on the Fallison Trail, we found numerous spotted coralroots in the upland woods, and a few grass pink and pink ladyslipper orchids in a bog mat. Dragon’s mouth orchids are also in bloom, and while I won’t tell you where to find them, bog mats are their favored habitat.
Early summer flowers like wild roses are in full bloom. I walked a trail recently that was lined with wild roses, and the smell was fabulous.
Dennis Hill in Manitowish Waters sent me a picture of two adult cranes with two chicks eating corn at a local bird feeder. The chicks are born precocial, meaning they are born with their eyes open, feathered with down, and able to walk shortly after their birth. The sandhill chicks still have to follow their parents around to find food, but they grow at a prodigious rate, and fledge on average just two months later. Late May would be a reasonable average date for hatching around here, so these chicks ought to be airborne by late July.
WDNR Petition to Delist Wolves
On April 27, the Wisconsin DNR petitioned the U.S. Department of the Interior to delist the gray wolf pursuant to the Endangered Species Act. The petition stated that Wisconsin had met and exceeded the goals of the federal and state recovery plans, and that the gray wolf “is clearly not in danger of extinction” now or in the foreseeable future.
The past is prologue, so here’s a thumbnail view of the wolf ‘s history in Wisconsin:
· Prior to settlement, wolves occurred throughout the state with a population estimated to have ranged from 3000 to 5000 animals.
· By the late 1950s wolves were considered completely eliminated from the state due to indiscriminate hunting, government bounties (in place from 1865 through 1957), and habitat loss.
· In the late 1960s and early 1970s, wolves began to reappear in the state as they migrated one-by-one down from northeastern Minnesota.
· In 1975, Wisconsin listed the gray wolf (also know as the eastern timber wolf) as endangered.
· In 1979, statewide population monitoring began, and 25 wolves were counted in 5 packs.
· In the early 1980s, the state set a goal to downlist wolves to a threatened status once the population reached 80 wolves in winter for 3 or more years.
· Between 1980 and 1990, there was a slow gradual spread of wolves across northwest and central Wisconsin.
· In 1999, the state revamped its delisting goal to 250 wolves in winter, and a long-term management goal of 350 wolves. For comparison, Minnesota’s 2001 plan set their minimum goal at 1600 wolves while Michigan set its goal at 200 wolves.
· In 1999, the state downlisted wolves from endangered to threatened when the state count reached 204.
· In 2004, wolves were removed from the state threatened list when the state count hit 373 wolves. They were subsequently listed as protected animals.
· In 2008-2009, 30 years after the first state count, the winter count indentified 626 to 662 wolves in 162 packs spread across extensive areas of northern and central Wisconsin. Breeding packs now occur in at least 33 of Wisconsin’s 72 counties.
· In 2010, most areas of suitable habitat in the state appear to be occupied, and the wolf population is likely stabilizing, Though the population will almost certainly exceed 700, the reality is all wildlife populations are dynamic, and no one really knows what the upper level will be.
One maddening factor in managing endangered species, including wolves, is that state and federal lists of endangered and threatened species may not overlap. Federal downlisting of the wolf has gone through a series of incarnations, with accompanying lawsuits, due in large part to the very wide geographical region that the policy has attempted to cover. Most recently, wolves were again federally listed as endangered in Wisconsin in July of 2009, and that is their current status.
Clearly, however, current science shows that wolves are not endangered in Wisconsin. Thus, downlisting the wolf to a protected status – the celebratory goal of all work with endangered species – is the appropriate next step in the legal process.
One should note that a major impetus for the WDNR’s desire to see the wolf downlisted is that they can then manage the wolf population. This gives the DNR the opportunity to remove wolves when depredation occurs, which begs the question: How serious is wolf depredation?
That’s very much a value judgment, but here are the numbers as a starting point for discussion: Since 2000, 270 cattle have been killed by wolves, an average of 27 per year. On occasion, other farm animals are killed, but in very low numbers. For instance, 3 sheep and 1 horse were killed by wolves in 2009. And since 2004, 13 to 24 dogs have been killed by wolves annually.
In response to this depredation over the last seven years, 174 wolves were captured and killed by government trappers, an average of 25 wolves per year. An additional 7 wolves were killed by landowners during that time. The total represents an average of around 6% of the wolf population every year, though fewer wolves were taken in 2009 due to the legal constraints imposed by the federal listing of wolves as endangered.
Unfortunately, illegal killing of wolves continues to occur by those who believe the endangered species law doesn’t apply to them. Eighteen wolves were illegally killed in 2009 (7 of which were collared wolves), representing 25% of the total wolves found dead last year. A 2009 study found that as many as 17% of hunters in wolf range express a willingness to illegally shoot wolves, a serious stain upon the reputation of hunters as ethical participants in wildlife management.
So, to return to the value-laden question of the seriousness of wolf depredation, while these annual depredation numbers are extremely low, it makes sense to give the DNR the necessary authorization to control wolves where depredation is occurring. Thus, it is my humble opinion that the delisting of wolves should move forward as quickly as possible.
However, I also believe the annual losses of dogs and farm animals to wolves are tiny in the overall scheme of things. Clearly, far more farm animals and dogs are lost to accidents, or a hundred other mortality factors, than to wolves. The populations of farm animals and dogs are not jeopardized by wolves. One wonders also, about the intense focus on wolves given that many dogs and farm animals are lost to other predatory animals, or, in the case of hunting dogs, are lost during bear hunting directly to the bears being chased.
Of course, none of the dogs or farm animals lost so far has belonged to me, and that’s important – I haven’t had to suffer the loss. But, while I would grieve if I lost my dog to a wolf, I would accept her loss as a fair price to pay to be able to experience an environment where all wild species are represented as nature intended. A forest without its top predators to control prey populations poses enormous ecological problems – we have learned this over and over in every state in this county. The first law of intelligent tinkering is to keep all the parts, wrote Aldo Leopold long ago. We don’t need to throw any parts away in Wisconsin.
I would add that without the top predators, we also risk the loss of the entire feeling of the Northwoods as a truly “wild” place. If I’m uncomfortable with other predators living in the forest besides myself, I can visit the vast majority of the rest of the country where I can find a much tamer experience.
One last thought: It’s a slippery slope when humans begin determining the fate of animals in any ecosystem. If we choose to remove predators like wolves, why not also remove other predators like loons and otters and eagles that eat fish, or black bears and coyotes that eat fawns (and rabbits, squirrels and occasional house cats), or hawks and owls that eat songbirds and grouse? We, all six billion of us, are the top predator on the planet, and while we kill both wild and farm animals by the millions, we somehow fail to accept that tiny numbers of other predators should kill as well. It’s a double standard, one that should be eliminated once and for all.
The bottom line for me? I say control depredating wolves when necessary, but accept, and celebrate, the rest of the wolf’s return. I believe it’s an exceptional privilege to be able to walk in an ecologically complete Northwoods, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.
Fourth of July Fireworks
Curmudgeon that I’ve become, I find the incessant blasting of firecrackers during the Fourth of July to be highly aggravating. More importantly, I wonder about the impacts on local wildlife, particularly birds still on nest or raising young still in the nest. Visitors and residents alike should note that a great number of waterfowl and shoreland nesting birds, as well as other wildlife, live on and around our lakes. Please simply keep that in mind when choosing where, when, and to what sound level you choose to explode fireworks.
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