Most people know the Minnesota DNR cancelled this year’s moose hunt. What you may not know is the Grand Portage Band and Fond du Lac Band also cancelled their hunts. This is great news for Minnesota moose and for the tourists and locals alike who like to see live moose alongside the road.  I’m excited to see less blaze orange the first week of October on the Gunflint Trail and hopefully some moose too.

Fond du Lac Band cancels plans for moose hunt

Minnesota’s dwindling moose herd will get a full break this autumn after all, with the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa confirming Friday that they will not hold a limited moose hunt.

By: John Myers, Duluth News Tribune

Minnesota’s dwindling moose herd will get a full break this autumn after all, with the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa confirming Friday that they will not hold a limited moose hunt.

The Fond du Lac Band joins the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, and the Grand Portage and Bois Forte bands, in deciding to cancel the hunt because moose numbers have dropped so low.

The DNR announced last winter it would cancel its hunt after the annual survey showed the population had declined 35 percent in just one year. The population has dropped from an estimated 8,800 moose in 2006 to an estimated 2,760 in this past winter’s survey.

As recently as last week Fond du Lac said it would offer band members 77 permits to harvest a maximum of 25 bull moose in ceded territory in Northeastern Minnesota covered by 1854 and 1837 treaties. And Karen Diver, chairwoman of the band, said tribal biologists said the harvest would have little if any effect on the overall moose population. But she said a tribal advisory committee opted to err on the side of caution.

“Their original decision to hold a hunt was really split among the community members, and this decision was, too. But, yes, the decision is to take this year off and try to see what caused this precipitous decline,” Diver told the News Tribune on Friday. “We’ll review this annually as we see what direction the population is going.”

While state biologists say a small harvest probably wouldn’t impact the overall population they also concede there is no justification for holding a hunt for an animal population in such steep decline. The state just this year moved to place moose on its list of “species of concern,” the first step toward becoming a threatened or even endangered species if the population trend doesn’t turn around.

Scientists are currently studying hundreds of GPS-collared moose across the Arrowhead region in attempt to find out what factors are contributing to their decline. It’s suspected that warmer weather are stressing moose at times as well as contributing to more parasites such as ticks. The higher temperatures may also favor deer, which carry a parasitic brain worm fatal to moose. Other researchers are looking at the impact of predators, namely wolves, as well as changes in habitat as possible contributing factors to the moose decline.