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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

Moose collaring

Gov. Dayton made the right call; moose research needs more oversight

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Gov. Mark Dayton made the right call this week when he signed an executive order to halt the GPS collaring of moose in Minnesota. There’s no question that all Minnesotans would like to learn more about the problems plaguing the state’s moose herd. But it’s been apparent for some time that the research methods were creating unacceptable levels of mortality.

While wildlife research often entails the death of a small percentage of study subjects, when capture-related mortality reaches the levels we’ve seen the past two years with moose, basic ethical canons of wildlife research require a change in methods. The governor’s decision this week is a recognition that such a change is needed here.

The issue is not the moose research itself. We all expect that state agencies like the DNR will base their management decisions on scientific data, and that often requires ongoing research in a whole host of areas. Even critics who’ve raised concerns about the high number of capture-related mortalities in the moose research program support a continuation of scientific inquiry into the reasons for the moose decline.

The governor’s decision this week won’t end the moose study. In fact, with 100 collared adult moose still wandering the woods of northeastern Minnesota, the agency will be collecting data on moose for several years to come. By ending the collaring of additional moose, the governor’s decision will limit the deaths of any additional moose due to the trauma of capture and collaring. And coming barely a week before DNR researchers had planned to begin collaring up to 50 moose calves, the governor’s decision will almost certainly reduce the number of calves abandoned by their mothers this spring. That’s good news.

In the meantime, the governor’s decision will hopefully prompt DNR researchers to begin seriously exploring alternative methods for studying moose.

Other states, such as Alaska, are already exploring alternatives, especially for studying moose calves, since abandonment has been a problem there as well. Most concerning was data from Alaska that found that even calves that were successfully collared and not abandoned, had a significantly lower survival rate than uncollared calves. Seeing pictures of newborn calves, with bulky, white collars around their necks, it’s easy to understand why their survival might be compromised. That made the scientific validity of the research highly suspect.

The governor’s decision should also prompt DNR officials to explore what went wrong with the moose program, and that’s why comments this week by DNR Commissioner Tom Landwehr are encouraging. In an interview with the Timberjay, the Commissioner called for an “incident review” during which DNR officials would take an objective look at all of the factors that may have led to a less-than-successful research outcome as well as a public relations hit for the agency. Such an effort would give top agency officials a better understanding of what went wrong in this case and guidance for preventing such problems in the future.

A thorough inquiry is justified and we would hope the DNR would make the results public. That’s the best way to restore the public’s confidence in the DNR’s research program.