Admissions at Northland
The wolves of Michigan
The gray wolf has been part of Great Lakes fauna since the melting of
the last glaciers. At the beginning of European settlement in Michigan,
wolves were found throughout the state. However, European werewolf mythology,
fairy tales, and religious beliefs, along with views that wolves were
incompatible with civilization, resulted in the persecution of wolves
in Michigan.
The United State Congress passed a wolf bounty in 1817, in the Northwest Territories, an area which included what is now Michigan. A wolf bounty was the ninth law passed by the First Michigan Legislature in 1838, and the wolf was nearly eliminated from the Lower Peninsula by 1900. The wolf bounty continued until 1922, when a state trapper system took affect. The bounty was reinstated in 1935, and by the time it was repealed in 1960, wolves nearly were eliminated from the entire state. Michigan wolves were given complete legal protection in 1965.
Map of 2003 Michigan's Upper Peninsula Wolf Population
Click on the map for a bigger view.
In 1956, the Upper Peninsula population was estimated to be about 100 individuals in seven major areas. However, by 1974, the entire Michigan wolf population was reduced to only six animals in the Upper Peninsula. Sporadic breeding and occasional immigration of wolves from more secure populations in Ontario and Minnesota were considered to be the factors that maintained a small population of wolves in the Upper Peninsula. It is believed that a few wolves persisted in remote areas of the Upper Peninsula and were never completely extirpated from the state.
Only one wolf reintroduction has been attempted in Michigan. In 1974, a pack of four Minnesota wolves was released in Marquette County. All died or were killed as a result of direct human activities within nine months. These wolves did not reproduce and did not contribute to the current wolf population. Read more about the failed 1974 Michigan wolf reintroduction (PDF).
Beginning in the early 1970's, wolves in Minnesota expanded their range south and east and began occupying some of their former range in Wisconsin and eventually moved into the western and central Upper Peninsula. In addition, wolves began immigrating into the western Upper Peninsula from Ontario.
From minimal numbers in the early 1970's, wolf numbers in the Upper Peninsula increased to 17 in 1991, 80 in 1995, and to over 180 individuals during the winter of 1998/1999. Results from track counts during the winter of 1999/2000 show that the wolf population has a minimum of 216 individuals distributed across all Upper Peninsula counties. In 2002, roughly 278 wolves in over 60 packs roamed the Upper Peninsula.
Michigan saw a 12% increase in its 2003-2004 wolf population to 360 wolves
in about 77 packs found in all counties of Michigan's Upper Peninsula
(UP) except Keweenaw. During the past winter, biologists spent more than
2,000 hours surveying 6,000 to 8,000 miles of roads looking for wolf sign.
Biologists currently monitor
44 wolves fitted with radio collars. This is the fifth consecutive year
that the wolf populations exceeded 200, reaching the recovery goal stated
in the MichiganWolf Recovery and Management Plan. Reaching this goal will
allow the state to
remove the wolf from the state threatened list when federal delisting
is completed.
Wolf population levels in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan have reached
the goals established in the Federal recovery plan. The Upper Peninsula
wolf population is healthy and growing, and numbers are approaching the
goals established in the Michigan Recovery and Management Plan. New efforts
focusing on management and education will help ensure healthy populations
for the future.
(Michigan Department
of Natural Resources publication)
Get more information about Michigan's wolves in the Ottawa National Forest.