After completing their annual survey this year, scientists estimate 37 of the apex predators are now roaming around Isle Royale, a 132,000-acre U.S. national park that’s part of Michigan and located near Thunder Bay, Canada. The moose population, meanwhile, has declined to an estimated 524 animals, according to a report released in April.
Together, the new figures suggest Isle Royale is returning to a healthier predator-prey dynamic after years of imbalance.
“The wolf and moose populations are now approaching the edge of where they have been in the past, with moose low and wolves high,” says Rolf Peterson, an ecologist at Michigan Technological University and co-leader of the Isle Royale Wolf-Moose Project, in a statement.
You may have heard about a poll that had a majority of Michiganders approving a concept to create a “special economic zone” on Belle Isle, which is owned by the city of Detroit. The news (rightfully imo) raised an online furor in Detroit where residents wondered why they should care what the rest of the state thought they should do with our beloved island park. Under the proposal, investors would make a one-time $1 billion payment to the city in exchange for a long-term lease, and Detroit would receive an additional $50 million annually.
EDITOR’S NOTE: although the poll claims majority support from Detroiters, every article is wall to wall “do not do this” comments so color me skeptical about anything that comes from this organization.
Belle Isle Freedom City is the organization behind the concept for “a self-governing hub of innovation, economic freedom, and private-led development” with “a great degree of autonomy with regard to taxation and regulation.” So basically, a new suburb? You can read the “speculative fiction” about a plucky group of billionaires who turn a city park into their home below if you want.
I confess that when I started today’s post I had no idea that June 16, 1856 was the date when assassins mortally wounded Michigan’s only king. To be clear, this is a post about kings being a deeply stupid & un-American thing, not a post about killing them.
Michigan religious leader & politician James Jesse Strang was a major contender for leadership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints after the death of founder Joseph Smith. Here are some excerpts of the wild ride of a Wikipedia that is the James Jesse Strang entry & chronicles his life as a lawyer, minister, prophet & politician who ultimately became something of a king. Please feel welcome to add your favorite tidbits in the comments!
Strang rested his claim to leadership on an ordination by an angel at the very moment Joseph Smith died (similar to the ordination of Smith), requirements that he claimed were set forth in the Doctrine and Covenants that the President had to be appointed by revelation and ordained by angels, and a “Letter of Appointment” from Smith, carrying a legitimate Nauvoo postmark. This letter was dated June 18, 1844, just nine days before Smith’s death. (he also claimed to have divine plates a la Smith that he discovered in Voree, Wisconsin)
…About 12,000 Latter Day Saints ultimately accepted Strang’s claims.[30] A second “Stake of Zion” was established on Beaver Island in Lake Michigan, where Strang moved his church headquarters in 1848. Strang’s church had a high turnover rate … Many defections were due to Strang’s seemingly abrupt “about-face” on the turbulent subject of polygamy. Vehemently opposed to the practice at first, Strang reversed course in 1849 and became one of its strongest advocates, marrying five wives (including his original spouse, Mary) and fathering fourteen children. Strang defended his new tenet by claiming that, far from enslaving or demeaning women, polygamy would liberate and “elevate” them by allowing them to choose the best possible mate based upon any factors which were deemed important by them.
…Strang was crowned in 1850 by his counselor and Prime Minister, George J. Adams. About 300 people witnessed his coronation, for which he wore a bright red flannel robe which was topped by a white collar with black speckles. His crown was made of tin, rather than gold, and it is described in one account as being “a shiny metal ring with a cluster of glass stars in the front.
On Monday, June 16, 1856, Strang was waylaid on the dock at the harbor of St. James, the chief city on Beaver Island by former disciples who shot him in the back.
Most remember that President Ulysses S. Grant signed a law establishing that Yellowstone as America’s first national park on March 1, 1872, but not that many are aware of the 2nd national park that Congress created just three years later on March 3, 1875. The National Parks Traveler has a great feature on America’s “forgotten” national park which existed from 1875 to 1895 when it became Mackinac Island State Park, the nation’s first state park which is now Mackinac State Historic Parks.
Mark has shared a ton of Mackinac Island pics on Flickr and in our Absolute Michigan group. Here are some of my faves. See more in his Mackinac, Michigan gallery on Flickr!!
In her song “The Dream Before” of my favorite musicians, Laurie Anderson, observes that progress is a storm blowing us from Paradise into the future. While I am a big fan of lots of progress, I do not welcome the rise of Artificial Intelligence image generators that are positively overwhelming social media with idealized versions of real scenes. These false images are vexing, but they are only the tip of an iceberg that threatens to sink our ability to share information of any kind.
While many will probably say this picture is an AI creation due to the fancy clouds, Mary shared it four years ago on August 26, 2020. Head over to the Traverse City Camera Club group for more from Mary!
You don’t take a photograph. You make it. ~ Ansel Adams
Great photography is not easy! Karl shares “Laying practically under my tripod and up against a prickly picker bush, I’m narrowly able to cram in this craggily white birch with a few remaining autumn leaves that are just barely hanging. In the crisp and cold October morning air, I caught one of the nicest and richest sunrises I’ve ever experienced over Lake Superior. This was a good morning.“
The Presque Isle Township Museum Society reminds you that it’s never too early to start planning your summer Michigan Lighthouse Tour! The drive from Tawas to Mackinaw City along Heritage Route 23 will let you explore the lighthouses of the Sunrise Side. Click that link for a map & much more!!
Lighthouse historian Terry Pepper is no longer with us, but his words still illuminate the rich history of Michigan lighthouses at Seeing the Light. His entry on the Thunder Bay Island Lighthouse says (in part):
Thunder Bay Island sits just three miles East-northeast of the north point of Thunder Bay, and thirteen miles from the harbor at Alpena. This 215-acre limestone island is the outermost of a group of islands connected to the shore by a shallow rocky shoal. As such, it represented both a significant marker for Northbound vessels making the turn toward the Straits, and stood ready to chew the wooden hulls of vessels unlucky enough to stray too close to its rocky shores.
…With rapidly increasing maritime traffic through the 1850’s, the Lighthouse Board determined that the combination of inefficient Lewis lamps and the diminutive 40-foot height of the tower provided a less than effective aid to mariners relying on this important station. To rectify the situation, plans were formulated to increase the height of the tower and to install an improved French Fresnel lenses of the type currently being installed throughout the system. Over 1857, the upper 14 feet of the tower was encased in brick and continued above the upper limits of the old structure to a height of 50 feet, effectively increasing the total height of the tower by 10 feet. The entire exterior of the tower was then given a veneer of Cream City brick to provide a smooth, weather-proof surface. At completion of the masonry work, the renewed walls at the base of the tower stood a massive 79 inches thick, and tapered to a thickness of 20 inches at their uppermost.
Atop this renovated tower, a new gallery with a cast iron hand railing was installed, and a ten-sided prefabricated cast iron lantern installed at its center. Within this new lantern, a Fourth Order Fresnel lens manufactured by Sautter of Paris equipped with six bulls-eye flash panels was installed on a cast iron pedestal and equipped with a clockwork rotating mechanism. This new improved illuminating apparatus provided a characteristic fixed white light varied by flashes, and its enhanced focal plane of 59 feet provided an increased range of visibility of 14 miles at sea.
Read on for much more! Also, a very big thank you to the Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association who have been sharing some great pics in our Michigan in Pictures group on Facebook! They do so much to preserve Michigan’s lighthouse and maritime legacy!!
Feels like folks are starting to open up their summer cottages & rentals for the season, so it’s a good time for this picture of mailboxes on Bois Blanc Island. James it shared back on April 23, 2020, and it remains one of my all time favorite pics I’ve shared on Michigan in Pictures. I’ll probably have to have some kind of bracket challenge one of these days to figure out what the audience thinks one of these days 😉
The United States Congress designated the Round Island Wilderness in 1987 and it now has a total of 375 acres.
All of Round Island has been designated wilderness except one acre on the northern tip, a sand and cobblestone spit where the lighthouse stands. There has been no logging on the island since the turn-of-the-century. There are no docks, roads, or developed hiking trails on the island. Access is by boat in the summer and over ice in the winter. Several historic and prehistoric sites exist on the island.
…The “Michigan rattler”, massausauga has been rumored to reside on the island. You may see whitetail deer, raccoon, red squirrel, fox, rabbit, and an occasional black bear on the island; as well as a variety of songbirds and waterfowl. Trout, pike, salmon, and other freshwater fish are found in the lake waters around the island. While the island is removed from the hustle and bustle of everyday life, it is close enough that you can see busy Mackinac Island and the mainland lights.
I found this photo from Mark a couple of months ago when I was looking for a photo of Leland Blue for Leelanau.com. Not what I was looking for, but this May 2021 sunset over the Manitou Passage in Lake Michigan is DEFINITELY a find!
