The Proposed Wind Energy Project will cut right through the High Density core moose habitat areas. The construction phase with blasting and massive equipment and road work,  will cause avoidance, and increased stress, and possible interference with calving areas. In addition hundreds of additional trucks, cars and equipment a day will increase the risks of accidental deaths.

Project overlay to 2017 Moose Territory.

2017-moose Survey and project overlay
Map’s were aligned on the bays, and Pequaming as they were in different perspective, 

Long term this project would fragment the Moose Habitat, affecting moose behavior and habitat usage. Roads culverts and watershed changes or stormwater diversion will have a major effect on Moose wetland habitat.  The continual noise and movement of the turbines, will only exacerbate the fragmentation boundaries.

 

Studies on deer, elk, etc. out west have concluded the turbines create stress for those animals with possible issues including: reduction in breeding success, Industrial noise interfering with vocalizations, increasing flight response, and habitat avoidance.

The population of moose in the U.P. has a complicated history. There are two populations that tend to be discussed separately: the Eastern U.P. population, and a population of about 400 animals in the Western U.P. counties of Marquette, Baraga, and northern Iron. Western U.P. moose populations were replenished through a relocation project done by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in the 1980s and have been the subject of many studies since then.
Fact: we have twice as many moose and wolves in Baraga County as they have in Yellowstone National Park.

DNR moose survey results estimate a population increase

Michigan Department of Natural Resources wildlife biologists estimate the number of moose in the western Upper Peninsula core population area at 378 animals, up from 285 in 2015.

Moose Population Map
High- and low-density core moose population areas in the western Upper Peninsula.

The western U.P. moose range covers about 1,400 square miles in parts of Marquette, Baraga, and Iron counties. The population there is the result of moose reintroduction efforts in 1985 and 1987

2017 Moose survey

2015 Moose Survey

 

Accompanying photos and video are available for download from this year’s moose survey. Additional reference graphics are available for download below. Credit all materials: Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

More U.P. Moose Information:

Upper Peninsula Region 2017 Winter Recap

Moose and Wind Turbines:

Observations of moose in and around operational wind farms

The impacts of wind power on terrestrial mammals