Park Service to begin researching options to boost Isle Royale wolf population

The National Park Service has no immediate plans to restore the wolf population at Isle Royale National Park.

Wildlife ecologists from Michigan Tech University said last week that only three wolves remain on the Lake Superior island. They said new ones should be brought in to keep the moose population in check.

Park superintendent Phyllis Green said that option remains open — but any intervention can happen only after the situation's been carefully studied.

"How many? Where from? How frequently will you do it? There's a lot of pragmatic types of things to consider," she said

Green said the process will take two to three years, and she hopes to begin in the next two months.

"We really want to make sure that we've thought through the different consequences of some of the actions we might take," she said. "And that's typically done using a planning process that looks at various alternatives."