In 1843, Isle Royale was obtained from an Ojibwa Indian tribe in one of the many Indian withdrawals of the time, but the main idea of creating a national park like Isle Royale didn’t come until March 3, 1931. President Herbert Hoover allowed Congress to find a quality expanse of northern woodlands and attempt to protect it. Today, Isle Royale is famous for its beautiful wilderness and is used mainly for recreation. But not all is well on the Isle. I think that if we continue the plan to reintroduce the wolves of Isle Royale, then we will be wasting millions of dollars. I will be explaining the wolf problem, what has been done to solve it, and what should be done instead.

The wolf and moose population fluctuate frequently, which is normal, but throughout recent years the wolf population has dropped down to 2 gray wolves. A male and female from the same mother that are genetically unlikely to breed. In the article The Wolves and Moose of Isle Royale by John Vucetich, it says that “Canine parvovirus, a disease inadvertently introduced by humans, was largely to blame for the decline.” This disease wiped the population from 50 down to 14. The wolves made a few smaller comebacks. Such as when the famous Canadian wolf named “Old Grey Guy” crossed over an ice bridge to the island and revitalized the wolves. But their numbers never rose above 30 again. In the very beginning of the 21st century, a series of hot summers hit the island, weakening the moose and setting off an outbreak of moose ticks in the moose population. This decimated it, leaving the small group of remaining gray wolves with little food supply. In the last 20 years, the wolf population has continued to decrease, and people are worried for the sake of the Island’s economic value and the ecosystem there. So they have made movements to fix it.

Now that we know the problem, here’s what people have done to try and solve it. Jim Peaco from The Conversation as of Oct 2018 said “ The agency plans to move 25 to 30 gray wolves to Isle Royale in the next three to five years” The first group in 2018 was planned to have 6-8 wolves in it, but due to bad weather, the plans were canceled. In fall 2018, 4 gray wolves, 1 male, and 3 females were transported from Grand Portage to Isle Royale. The male has since died of natural causes. One of the females crossed back to the mainland over an ice bridge during the polar vortex in late Jan 2019. According to the National Parks Conservation Association, in March 2019 11 wolves were transported from Ontario and Michipicoten island, 4 females, 7 males. They were transported from there because food supplies on their previous Island were running out. One of the females is thought to be pregnant. So far, there isn’t enough data to know what will happen from here, I believe that If we let nature run its course, It will benefit us greater in the long run.

What’s being done may serve as a temporary fix, but overall it’s a bad investment. According to National Geographic: “David Mech (senior research scientist) believes the scientific knowledge gained by observing the events on Isle Royale is extremely valuable and that intervention corrupts the value of the whole study." What he’s saying is the situation with the wolves and moose is something we can learn from, and if we observe what happens, we will know what to do in future situations similar to it. If we just pour money and effort into fixing it, we will be passing up a great chance to discover many secrets about predator-prey relationships and ecosystems. We will also risk wasting millions of dollars on a bunch of wolves destined for extinction. If the wolves die out, then the moose population will skyrocket, then plummet again. The moose will eat all of the food on the Island and they will be densely packed together. Diseases will spread across the whole moose population and kill them off, too. That will eliminate the two main predators and prey from the Isle Royale ecosystem. The other animals on the Island may be affected, but over a few years, the system will correct itself. The Isle may receive fewer tourists, but Isle Royale will retain its natural beauty, and plenty of people will still come to enjoy it. If the wolves die out, we will learn from it, and next time something happens like it, we will know what to do without all this controversy.

In conclusion, I think we should stop wasting money on the wolves of Isle Royale and start observing the path nature takes. Almost 120 years ago Isle Royale was founded by President Herbert Hoover, and he instructed Congress to protect it. I would say that intervening and putting more wolves on the Isle could be considered as a violation of that instruction. This could be the end of the Isle Royale wolves. But reintroducing more is throwing away money. We should let Mother Nature do her work and use the results for when something like this happens again. For the sake of future generations, leave Isle Royale alone.