# Wolf survey beginning



## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

Wolf survey beginning
Biologists, tribe will be looking for tracks

http://www.record-eagle.com/2005/feb/06wolf.htm

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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## Linda G. (Mar 28, 2002)

I'll bet this article was written a week or more before publication, before all the snow began to melt. I doubt Brian would be so confident about doing a wolf survey, with or without assistance from the tribe, right now. 

In past years, that's been the DNR's #1 reason for canceling what was once a very important annual elk survey for several years in a row...not enough snow. Even when there was still several inches in the majority of the Pigeon River, the main area surveyed. But that several inches was always old snow, which is difficult to track anything in. 

So, unless we get a substantial amount of snow in that area in the next few weeks, don't hold your breath about a wolf survey.


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

On the trail of the wolf 
Searchers will comb woods north of M-32 
http://www.record-eagle.com/2005/feb/20wolf.htm

GAYLORD - Snow is forecast for the first days of the state's gray wolf survey in lower Michigan.
And with it comes an expectant howl from the various biologists and researchers who beginning Monday will comb the north woods for the elusive predator.
Biologists with the state Department of Natural Resources and the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians Natural Resources Department hope to find tracks or other evidence of wolves in an area north of M-32.
"I'm looking forward to this. It'll be good to get going on it," said Brian Mastenbrook, a DNR biologist and lower Michigan wolf survey coordinator. "This weather is certainly an improvement over what we've had."
Mastenbrook said the two-week search will center around northern Montmorency and southern Presque Isle counties, where a wolf was killed in a trap in October and where a set of wolf tracks was confirmed in December.
Officials believe wolves likely migrated across the ice bridge that forms at the Straits of Mackinac from the growing packs in the Upper Peninsula.
Mastenbrook said ideal conditions for finding wolf tracks is a light snow, about two or three inches deep, so the animals leave good impressions. But if the snow is too fluffy, the wind can cover tracks and make it difficult to see the definition of the paw prints.
Biologists will work in teams and cover hundreds of miles of backwoods roads and trails when weather allows. The best time to search is just after a light snow during daylight hours, Mastenbrook said.
The National Weather Service in Gaylord is calling for a 60-percent chance of snow on Saturday and Sunday with high temperatures in the low 20s and about one inch of snow accumulating each day.
Meteorologist Kevin Sullivan said Monday and Tuesday will likely see more snow showers with highs in the upper 20s, but not much more than an inch of accumulation either day.
Residents of lower Michigan north of M-32 who find tracks or are able to photograph wolves during the Feb. 21 through March 4, should call the DNR office in Gaylord at (989) 732-3541.


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

Wolves still a mystery

By SHERI MCWHIRTER. Record-Eagle staff writer, March 6, 2005
http://www.record-eagle.com/2005/mar/06wolves.htm

ATLANTA - The truck crept along a snow-packed road in rural Montmorency County before it stopped and Dave Smith climbed out.
Snow crunched under his boots as he approached paw prints that crossed the road and entered a snowbank. Smith peered down for a closer look at what he hoped were tracks left by a gray wolf.
"Nope, it's another coyote track - a pretty fresh one," said Smith, a wildlife habitat biologist in the Atlanta field office of the state Department of Natural Resources.
Smith and DNR wildlife assistant Joe Valentine covered miles of backwoods roads by truck and snowmobile during a two-week wolf survey in northern Lower Michigan, as did dozens of trackers with the DNR, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Fish and Wildlife Service and the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians.
They found plenty of tracks - coyote, elk, deer, dog - but none from wolves. 
"You know they're here, but there's just so much country," Valentine said.
The survey centered on northern Montmorency and southern Presque Isle counties, where a 70-pound female wolf was killed in a trap in October and where the DNR later confirmed tracks of at least three other gray wolves - the first recorded proof of the predator in the Lower Peninsula since 1910.
"We're not done. We'll be keeping our eyes open the rest of the winter, as long as we have snow cover," Smith said.
Coyote tracks are similar but smaller than those left by wolves. Canine tracks usually are found atop the snow with no deep impressions. Deer and elk, however, crunch through the surface and leave two lines where the animals drag their legs through the snow.
Wolves located here likely migrated across the ice bridge at the Straits of Mackinac and Smith said he wouldn't be surprised to learn that more than a couple of wolves made the journey, based on the animals' recent revival in the Upper Peninsula, where more than 300 wolves are known to exist.
But finding them within the deep woods has been a challenge, he said.
"If we had a lot of animals and we weren't finding anything, that would be confusing. This isn't," Smith said.
DNR wildlife biologist Brian Mastenbrook said area residents reported finding wolf tracks during the survey period. The sightings are unconfirmed, though, because blowing snow destroyed prints before DNR officials could view them.
Mastenbrook said trackers tried to twice cover the back roads and trails in all of Lower Michigan north of M-32. 
The region's habitat is perfect for wolves with its large prey base, Smith said, but it's the social structure of wolf packs in the Upper Peninsula that likely prompted the predators to stray south. The alpha male and female in a pack alone can breed, so as the pack grows, more wolves must break away in search of new territory.
The survey was planned around the breeding season, when wolves are most likely to be moving around.
"It's a mystery - how many are here, where they are and what they are doing," Valentine said.
A capture and radio-collar management plan for wolves is months or even years away in Lower Michigan, Mastenbrook said, as the wolf population here is not large enough for much more than observation.


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

Lower Peninsula survey turns up no wolves
But scientists are convinced animals came south from UP

http://www.freep.com/news/mich/wolf8e_20050308.htm March 8, 2005 

A search for wolf prints in the snow near the tip of the Lower Peninsula came up empty, but scientists said they will keep trying to determine how many of the elusive animals have slipped into the region from farther north. 

"We'll be keeping our eyes open the rest of the winter, as long as we have snow," said Dave Smith, a wildlife habitat biologist in the Michigan Department of Natural Resources field office in Atlanta. 

Searchers fanned out across the region's back roads and trails during the recently completed two-week survey. 

They focused on northern Montmorency and southern Presque Isle counties, the area where a 70-pound female was killed in a trap last October and where the DNR later confirmed tracks of at least three other gray wolves. 

It's the first evidence of their presence in the Lower Peninsula in nearly a century. About 360 are thought to roam the Upper Peninsula. Biologists say some of them may have migrated to the Lower Peninsula across the frozen Straits of Mackinac. 

But finding them in the deep woods is a challenge, Smith said. 

"You know they're here, but there's just so much country," he said. 

Dozens of trackers with the DNR, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians took part in the survey. 

They found plenty of tracks -- coyote, elk, deer, dog -- but none from wolves. DNR wildlife biologist Brian Mastenbrook said area residents reported finding wolf tracks during the survey period, but blowing snow covered them before agency scientists could see them. 

At one point last week, Smith hopped out of a truck in rural Montmorency County to examine paw prints that crossed a road and entered a snowbank. 

"Nope, it's another coyote track -- a pretty fresh one," he said. 

Coyote tracks are similar to those left by wolves, but smaller. 

The northern Lower Peninsula's habitat, with its large prey base, is perfect for wolves, Smith said, although the social structure of packs in the Upper Peninsula probably is what prompted them to stray south.


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

No sign of wolves found in DNR's survey
Scientist say they learned how to look

GAYLORD - Biologists did not find evidence of grey wolves in Michigan's Lower Peninsula during the state's two-week survey period, but valuable information was gained about how best to look for the elusive predator.
"We learned how to do the survey and that's no small thing. We've never done this down here before," said Brian Mastenbrook, wildlife biologist with the state Department of Natural Resources. "The idea of finding maybe five animals on the whole landscape is really rather daunting."
Twenty-four people spent more than 400 hours combing backwoods roads and trails, looking for signs of wolves north of M-32 during the two-week survey period in February and March. Participants came from the DNR, U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services, Central Michigan University and the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians.
Doug Craven, director of the natural resources department for the tribe, said his crew members spent 80 hours looking for wolf tracks and covered 571 miles in Emmet and Cheboygan counties as part of the state survey.
"Just because we didn't find any tracks during the two-week survey, when conditions weren't that good, doesn't mean that wolves aren't here," Craven said.
Craven said the tribe's natural resources department is applying for a $250,000 federal grant to develop better survey methods and a reservation-specific wolf management plan over the next three years.
But Mastenbrook said the Lower Peninsula wolf survey may not occur next winter; state officials are considering waiting two or three years before again trying to track the federally-protected canines.
"This survey established that there is probably not a large group of the animals here," Mastenbrook said.
He said DNR biologists will continue to monitor Lower Michigan from the air, searching for radio-collar frequencies of wolves missing from the Upper Peninsula.
Any wolf sightings or tracks found in the area should be reported to the DNR Gaylord Operations Center at (989) 732-3541, or can be reported on the Internet at www.michigan.gov/dnr.


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

Officials probe animal's death 

http://www.record-eagle.com/2005/dec/14wolf.htm

By SHERI MCWHIRTER Record-Eagle staff writer 

GAYLORD - State officials said a gray wolf may have been killed by traffic in southern Otsego County, but the carcass was gone by the time a conservation officer arrived.
Officer Joe Molnar of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources received a call at 9:50 p.m. Monday and arrived about an hour later to find only animal tracks and a large amount of blood. Photographs and measurements he took of the tracks along Old State Road were sent to DNR wolf experts in the Upper Peninsula.
Molnar reported that it was unlikely the animal survived, so officials believe a motorist may have stopped and removed the animal.
"Somebody may have moved it," said DNR Lt. Jeff Gaither.
It's unknown whether the canine was a dog, coyote or wolf, but officials expect a report later this week on Molnar's photographs and measurements.
State wildlife biologist Glen Matthews said some possible wolf tracks were identified this year by DNR officials in the Atlanta office, but not during the state's official gray wolf survey period for the Lower Peninsula in February and March. 
"We had some visual observations reported this summer," Matthews said.
Several sets of tracks were confirmed last year near where a 70-pound female wolf was killed by a coyote trapper in October 2004 in Presque Isle County. Before that, the last recorded wolf in the Lower Peninsula was in 1910, officials said.
Another wolf survey is planned in the Lower Peninsula for early in 2006, as biologists are confident wolves likely migrated from growing packs in the Upper Peninsula, where approximately 400 wolves roam.


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

Wildlife officials find no sign of wolves
No evidence of them in north Lower Michigan

http://www.record-eagle.com/2006/mar/16wolf.htm

March 16, 2006 By SHERI MCWHIRTER Record-Eagle staff writer

GAYLORD - State wildlife officials for the second consecutive year failed to detect any gray wolves in northern Lower Michigan.
But they're not giving up hope.
"We know there are not big groups of wolves here. We would have detected that. But we do know we have some independent animals," said Brian Mastenbrook, wildlife biologist with the state Department of Natural Resources.
A month was dedicated to the project this year, but the number of hours spent in the woods and miles covered have yet to be tallied. 
Participants came from the DNR, U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services, Central Michigan University and the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians.
"We had a couple of investigations that turned out to be dogs or coyotes," said Doug Craven, the tribe's director of the Natural Resources Department.
Mastenbrook said last year, 24 people spent more than 400 hours driving backwoods roads and trails, looking without success for signs of wolves north of M-32 during a two-week period.
Brian J. Roell, DNR wolf coordinator, contends a continuation of the Lower Peninsula population survey is warranted. He works in the Upper Peninsula, where more than 400 of the canine predators roam.
"We know wolves are eventually going to get there. That's already been shown with the one collared animal," Roell said. "I think wolves can survive there at some number. It's a matter of time. It's not an 'if.'"
A radio-collared female wolf was killed in Presque Isle County by a coyote trapper in October 2004 and the DNR since confirmed at least two other wolves from tracks found in that area.
Meanwhile, the wolf survey in the Upper Peninsula continues and Roell said he expects another increase in known animals. 
Their numbers have jumped by about 12 percent over the last couple years, he said.
Wolves were hunted into extinction in Michigan, but began to return from Canada and Wisconsin in the early 1990s. Just three animals were known of in 1989, Roell said.


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

DNR to look again for wolves in region

http://www.record-eagle.com/2007/feb/01wolfstudy.htm

02/01/07 BY SHERI McWHIRTER [email protected]

GAYLORD  State wildlife officials this winter will again try to find gray wolves in the northern reaches of Lower Michigan after not finding a trace of the elusive creatures here since 2004.

Patrick Lederle, wildlife research supervisor for the state Department of Natural Resources, said wolf surveys in the Lower Peninsula that turned up nothing cost the state less than $10,000 for the last two years. 

Officials said they will again spend the money on salaries, travel, vehicles and fuel to search a third year.

"We feel this is a priority for us, but we have scaled back some this year, Lederle said, responding to questions about the significance of wolf studies amid DNR budget woes that prompted the agency to request significant fee hikes for residents' hunting and fishing licenses.

The past two years dozens of wolf trackers came up empty-handed after spending hundreds of hours driving along snowy backwoods roads in a broad search south of the Mackinac Bridge. Efforts now will focus only on reported sightings and also in Emmet, Cheboygan and Presque Isle counties.

"We're going to continue to monitor whether wolves will establish themselves in the Lower Peninsula. I still think it's a good idea because we want to know what's down there, said Brian Roell, DNR wolf coordinator.

A radio-collared female wolf from the Upper Peninsula was trapped and killed by a Presque Isle County hunter in October 2004. The next month, state biologists confirmed two sets of wolf tracks in Presque Isle County, but nothing since then.

"We had some credible reports, so now we're just following up for a couple of years, Lederle said.

He said the continued Lower Michigan wolf survey is a justifiable use of state money because the expected federal delisting of Great Lakes wolves this month means state officials must have accurate knowledge of where the animals are on both peninsulas.

"It's a tiny amount of money compared to the whole thing, Lederle said.

Most of the estimated annual $300,000 in state money for wolf-related law enforcement and wildlife programs is spent in the Upper Peninsula, where more than 400 wolves roam.


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

Wolves again elude search

BY SHERI McWHIRTER [email protected]

GAYLORD  The call of the wild went unanswered for a third year running in Michigan's Lower Peninsula.

State officials failed to turn up evidence of the presence of gray wolves in Lower Michigan in a third year of searches.

"We didn't find anything. It means there's not a big pack out there somewhere, said Brian Mastenbrook, wildlife biologist with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

Despite no tracks or other signs left found in the snow the last three winters, officials are convinced that a few elusive wolves roam the woods south of the Straits of Mackinac.

It's believed some wolves crossed an ice bridge in recent winters in search of new territory.

"They are here, probably in small numbers, and are staying away from people, Mastenbrook said.

More than 400 wolves live in the U.P., where most of the estimated annual $300,000 in state money is spent on wolf-related law enforcement and wildlife programs.

Lower Peninsula wolf surveys cost less than $5,000 per winter for salaries and supplies, said Patrick Lederle, DNR wildlife research supervisor. The effort likely will continue next year, although a focus will be placed on reported sightings, he said.

The DNR received 219 reports of wolf sightings in the Lower Peninsula during the last year, which help determined where officials looked this winter, Mastenbrook said.

A hunter killed a wolf in October 2004 in Presque Isle County and several sets of tracks were confirmed by state officials in that area shortly thereafter, but nothing ever since.

Sue Adams of Farmington Hills said she called the DNR in February 2006 after seeing two wolves along the shoreline of Mullett Lake in Cheboygan County, where she and her husband have a vacation home.

"They were within 50 feet of us from inside our home. My husband thought the first was a coyote until I pointed out its size and stature. When he saw the second larger wolf coming along the shore, he too was convinced that they were both wolves, Adams said.

Gray wolves were removed from the federal list of threatened and endangered species last month and are now the responsibility of state wildlife officials.

See related story:

DNR to look again for wolves in region - February 1, 2007 
Wildlife officials find no sign of wolves - March 16, 2006 
Wolves still a mystery - March 6, 2005


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

DNR: Broad wolf search ends
But officials will continue case-by-case efforts

http://www.record-eagle.com/local/local_story_041093218.html

02/10/08 BY SHERI McWHIRTER [email protected]

GAYLORD -- State researchers will halt broad efforts to find evidence of gray wolves in Lower Michigan.

A radio-collared female wolf from the Upper Peninsula was trapped and killed by a Presque Isle County hunter in October 2004, but minimal signs of the elusive canines turned up here in the meantime. State wildlife officials only will look for wolves this year on a case-by-case basis, giving up the expansive backwoods surveys of previous winters.

"We think it would be more efficient and a better use of people's time," said Brian Mastenbrook, wildlife biologist with the state Department of Natural Resources.

In 2005 and '06, dozens of trackers spent hundreds of hours driving along snowy rural roads in the far reaches of the northern Lower Peninsula, but found no sign of the top predators. The survey area was reduced last year to include just Emmet, Cheboygan and Presque Isle counties.

The fruitless searches are estimated to have cost the state about $12,000 for salaries, travel, vehicles and fuel. But this winter's efforts will cost little because only reliable sightings will be explored, said Patrick Lederle, acting assistant chief of the DNR's wildlife division.

"When you're just not finding anything, we want to scale it back and look when we have sightings. We want to continue our efforts in the areas most likely to have something," said Brian Roell, DNR wolf coordinator.

A conservation officer saw a wolf last summer near the border between Presque Isle and Cheboygan counties, where a few calls have trickled in from the public, Mastenbrook said.

DNR officials ask residents of northern Lower Michigan to report any wolf sightings or discovered tracks in the snow, especially during the coming breeding season from mid-February through mid-March, when the animals are most active. 

Photographs are helpful and tracks can be preserved with tarps or cardboard boxes, to prevent destruction from blowing snow, Mastenbrook said.

Residents can call the DNR in Gaylord at (989) 732-3541.

Meanwhile, researchers with the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians are still more extensively looking for wolves this winter, part of a $250,000 federal grant. Their work is focused in Emmet County and the Pigeon River Country State Forest, said Doug Craven, director of the tribe's natural resources department.

More than 500 wolves are estimated to roam in Upper Michigan and experts suggest their territory eventually will expand to northern Lower Michigan.

"It's not a question of whether or not the animals are going to show up here, it's a matter of when," Lederle said.


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## WAUB-MUKWA (Dec 13, 2003)

Yeah, hard to find something from a road. Get in the bush, they are there, we put a few in there for ya!


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