Isle Royale National Park

Isle Royale National Park
Isle Royale National Park
Coordinates: 47 ° 58 '56.2 "  N , 88 ° 51' 7.2"  W.
Location:	Michigan , United States
Next city:	Thunder Bay, Ontario
Surface:	2,313.9 km²
Founding:	April 3, 1940
Visitors:	25,798 (2018)
Address:	Isle Royale National Park

The Isle Royale National Park is a national park on and around the Isle Royale , the largest island in Lake Superior . The island is almost 72 kilometers long, about eight miles wide and - although closer to the Canadian shore - belongs to the US state of Michigan . It used to be a busy fishing spot and was declared a national park in 1940 .

The park is one of the smallest national parks in the United States and around three quarters of the area includes water around the island. There are around 1000 moose and 25 wolves on the island; however, the populations vary greatly. As a closed predator-prey system , it is intensively studied by population researchers.

After the population of wolves had fallen from 24 to only 8 between 2009 and 2012, of which only one was female, fears were raised that a threshold value had been exceeded and the population would become extinct. In the summer of 2013, however, two cubs were born again, so there is hope. In the particularly cold winter of 2014/2015, two wolves were observed from the mainland for the first time, that they covered around 22 km over ice on the frozen lake and explored the island. An exchange between island and mainland wolves has always been assumed, but has never been proven. The two animals stayed on the island for five days in February 2015 before returning to the mainland on the Grand Portage Indian Reservation .

Peregrine falcons have been nesting on the island again since 2012 . The species was previously absent for 57 years.

Visitors

In the summer months, the island can be reached by ferry from Grand Portage , Houghton and Copper Harbor . In the winter months, however, this is not possible due to the rough lake and drift ice.

In the central part of the island is Greenstone Ridge , a ridge on which the Isle Royale's longest hiking trail runs. It is around 60 kilometers long and can be hiked in 4 or 5 days. There is a boat connection for the way back.

There are two settlements in the park. To the west is Windigo with a camping shop, showers and a boat dock; to the east of Rock Harbor with a camping shop, showers, restaurant, hotel, campsite and a boat dock. In winter both places are empty, real villages or even cities do not exist on the island.

Web links

Commons : Isle Royale National Park  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• National Park Service: Isle Royale National Park (official site; English)
• US National Parks Net: Isle Royale National Park (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ isleroyalwolf.org: Annual Report 2012/2013 (PDF; 3.3 MB)
2. ↑ Nationalparkstraveler: Wolves Wander From Grand Portage Indian Reservation To Isle Royale National Park And Back , March 10, 2015
3. ↑ UpperMichigansSource.com: Wolf pups discovered on Isle Royale, but scientists still concerned  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , August 31, 2013