In 1973, vanishing wildlife and growing environmental awareness prompted Congress to place the gray, or timber, wolf (Canis lupis) on the endangered species list and establish a recovery program. Since then, the wolf has returned in number to the northern forests, particularly in Minnesota, now home to the largest population (2,200) of gray wolves in the contiguous United States. The recovery, however, has not been without the kind of problems that occur when humans and predators compete for space.
As the wolf population expands and disperses from protected areas, predations on livestock are increasing, and wolves are becoming less fearful of humans. Biologist Gary Huschle, of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), said more information is needed on how to manage wolves in areas where human conflicts will occur. To that end, FWS and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) are currently collecting data on wolf movement and dispersal patterns via satellite, GPS and standard VHF radio-tracking collars. Their findings will contribute to current DNR discussions on species management plans for post 1999, when the federal government is expected to take the wolf off the endangered species list in Minnesota.
Although the federal government reimburses farmers and ranchers for losses from wolf predations, and tracks down and kills the marauders, wolf issues have become highly charged and polarized among state residents. Wolves are the focal point of discussion in the classroom as often as they are in the Legislature. In 1994, students in Becky Rennicke's science class at Prairie Wind Middle School, in Perham, Minn., pressed their teacher for a study program on the wolf. "A couple of wolves had been trapped in the northern part of our county," Rennicke recalled, "and the kids wanted to know if there were others."
To learn more about wolf research, Rennicke contacted the International Wolf Center and Vermilion Community College in Ely, Minn. "They connected me with other people, including Gary Huschle and Sam Merrill, a biologist with DNR. From there, we just kept working up the ladder to some pretty powerful connections." Along the way, Rennicke, DNR and FWS pooled their educational funding in a joint effort to develop a wildlife science course for the school and acquire satellite-tracking collars for the FWS and DNR wolf research programs.
From their efforts evolved a series of public- and private-sector partnerships, and $115,000 in grants and donations (see "Grants" sidebar). Since part of FWS and DNR funds are earmarked for community education programs, Rennicke was able to write both agencies into several grants, showing how they and the school would work together to meet their respective needs. The funds have since provided the school with a wildlife-studies program, a well-equipped lab, Argos satellite time and satellite-tracking collars for FWS and DNR.
"Eyes on Wildlife"
Several people from the different partnership agencies and firms donated their time to help launch the new science course by giving presentations, demonstrations and providing training in the basics of GIS, GPS, satellite tracking, mapping and radio telemetry. "We all started learning together," said Rennicke, referring to GIS. "Now, when we run into problems, we get answers from our advisers by e-mail. Between them and the manuals, we have been able to whack it out pretty good. We are at the point now where students can plot and color-code wolf locations -- day vs. night movements -- create overlays of habitats and other datasets, and locate standard VHF radio collars by triangulating on their signals."
Today, Rennicke's Eyes on Wildlife course is a regular science-research class for seventh and eighth graders. Since the course is continually expanding in scope and depth, it is also an elective that senior-high students can take for four years. "Right now, the class has two seniors, a few juniors and sophomores," said Patrick Sundberg, a senior, who has been taking the course since it began. "Most of us take the class whenever we can schedule an open hour to come over here -- it's just a block away. We also come in on our own time, after school."
Satellite Tracking
Satellite collars are preferred over GPS and VHF tracking collars, because personnel do not have to go into the field to retrieve the data, spend time processing or map out triangulations. Huschle, who directs the wolf research program at Agassiz National Wildlife Refuge in northwestern Minnesota, put the first two satellite collars on yearling wolves. Merrill's DNR team put the other on a wolf at Camp Ripley, a relatively undisturbed 53,000-acre national-guard base, much like a national forest, in the southern part of the state. Yearlings are collared because they are thought to be the most likely members of a pack to disperse and provide the information researchers need.
Signals from the collars are picked up three times a week by Argos satellites and relayed to a ground station at Wallops Island, Va. The data are then translated into lat/long coordinates and e-mailed to Agassiz, Camp Ripley and Prairie Wind. In the science class, Sundberg and other advanced students enter the coordinates into an ArcView GIS, using scanned topo basemaps provided by FWS and DNR. "Plotting coordinates and tracking wolves with this software allows us to manipulate the data and find trends -- where the collared wolves are going and how far, whether they are returning or dispersing," Sundberg said.
Other students convert lat/long to UTM (Universal Transverse Mercator) coordinates and plot wolf movements on U.S. Geodetic Service (USGS) topographical maps. "For each wolf we have a separate map," explained ninth grader Rachel Rennicke, the teacher's daughter. "These are hung up around the room all year. We can put all of our maps together and see where the animals are going. If they disperse into more populated areas, we know that will have an impact on DNR management decisions." Coordinates calculated by the class are regularly compared with those from Agassiz and Camp Ripley. In addition to USGS maps, the FWS and DNR also provide the class with datasets on animal habitats and topography.
Field Trips
In early September each year students do scent-post surveys to assist DNR in collecting data on wolves and other wildlife. Setting up a scent post involves clearing and smoothing an area on the ground one meter in diameter and placing a disc imbedded with an attractive scent in the middle. Up to 20 scent posts are established, one-third of a mile apart, in areas recommended by DNR. The location of each is recorded using a Garmin 12XL GPS. Students return the next day to identify the paw prints of different animals that have visited the posts. Recorded data are put into separate data layers and overlaid onto basemaps, which provide a visual sampling of animals in a particular area at that time of year.
In winter, senior-high students who are taking the class as an elective accompany biologists to wolf-kill sites in Ely, via dogsled, snowshoe and cross-country skis. They also go along on flights and help triangulate locations of wolves wearing standard VHF collars. At the International Wolf Center in Ely, they learn about wolves from experts and observe resident, captive wolves up close, in a large compound. The students also remove teeth from dead deer -- the wolf's preferred prey -- and learn how to tell the animal's age and health from microscopic examination of wafer-thin tooth slides.
Seeing Interrelatedness
What the kids are learning, said Rachel, goes well beyond awareness of the wolf and its place in the ecosystem. "When you study a particular animal in depth, you have a better understanding of how complex the ecosystem is and how it is all interrelated, how changes in animal populations affect people, and how what we do determines whether animals in the food chain live or die."
Sundberg, who is eyeing an engineering career, agreed. "I have lived in the woods all my life, but I didn't realize that everything in nature is so closely knit together, that every animal is affected by every other animal. I have learned basic ecology, how things work in wildlife, and it's helped my research and presentation skills."
Studying the wolf has encompassed a wide range of disciplines. Part of the elective class work involves producing a multimedia presentation with the computer and taking it on the road to speak at other schools, national conferences, and on radio and television. In addition to public speaking, students do hands-on research alongside biologists and researchers in the field. They work with GIS, GPS, do coordinate conversions, field triangulations and mapping -- all involve math, cartography, geography, physics and surveying. Older students also help teach the younger ones. In addition, they do technical reading and writing, said Rennicke. "The advanced GIS students have to write up instructions that the rest of us can follow, especially when they have figured out how to do something that pertains to our wolf studies." Rennicke plans to expand class use of GIS in wildlife research, and she is currently working with DNR to establish GIS internships for students.
In studying the wolf, Rennicke emphasized that she is not teaching a viewpoint. "I want the students to make their own decisions, have their own viewpoints -- as long as they are based on fact -- and understand that everything is interconnected, that changing one thing may affect many others."
For additional information, contact Becky Rennicke, teacher, Prairie Wind Middle School, Minn., 218/346-1704; Gary Huschle, biologist, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 218/449-4115; Sam Merrill, research biologist, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, 320/632-7635.
Bill McGarigle is a writer, specializing in communication and information technology. He is based in Santa Cruz, Calif.
September Table of Contents
