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Survey: NE Minnesota moose population low but stable
ST. PAUL (AP) -- The latest survey finds the moose population in northeastern Minnesota remains low but stable for the eighth consecutive year, the state Department of Natural Resources said Monday.
Results of the 2019 aerial survey estimate northeastern Minnesota's moose population at 4,180. The DNR said that's statistically unchanged from the 2018 estimate of 3,030 because of the survey's margin of error. The agency said the results reflect a 90 percent certainty that the population is between 3,250 and 5,580 moose.
Officials are encouraged that the moose population is not in the steep decline it was, DNR moose project leader Glenn DelGiudice said. While moose likely will keep being seen in northeastern Minnesota in the short to medium term, their long-term survival in the state remains uncertain, he said.
The last significant decline in the moose population happened between 2009 and 2012. Since then, northeastern Minnesota's moose population has been statistically stable.
Northeastern Minnesota's moose population peaked around 8,840 in 2006.
DelGiudice said the DNR knows from its research that adult female moose are getting pregnant.
"The problem is there aren't enough female moose that are successfully producing calves and raising them to one year. That's a significant challenge in our efforts to maintain Minnesota's moose population," DelGiudice said in a statement.
Calf survival from birth in spring to January continues to be stable but consistently low, survey results found. Field studies indicate that survival rates are even lower by spring, leading to low numbers of moose calves living through their first year, the DNR said.
DNR research shows that predation by wolves accounts for about two-thirds of the calf mortality and one-third of the adult mortality. Sometimes injuries suffered in wolf attacks, not the predation itself, ultimately kills adult moose.
The state's moose population has also been under pressure from warmer weather, habitat changes and parasites such as winter ticks, liver flukes and brainworms. Illness can leave adult moose more vulnerable to predation.
This year's moose survey involved flying in 52 plots distributed across northeastern Minnesota from Jan. 3-17. The DNR cautions that while the survey is statistically sound, researchers will never see and count all of the animals across the vast 6,000-square-mile survey area.
Minnesota Senate panel votes against recreational marijuana
ST. PAUL (AP) -- A Minnesota Senate committee voted Monday to kill a bill to legalize recreational marijuana in the state, making it unlikely that the legislation will pass this year.
The GOP-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee voted 6-3 along party lines to reject the bill after defeating a motion to keep the discussion going by sending it to another committee without a recommendation one way or the other. The panel also rejected forming a task force to conduct a comprehensive study and come back with recommendations on marijuana-related issues.
Ten states and the District of Columbia allow recreational marijuana. Voters last November made Michigan the first Midwestern state to legalize recreational marijuana. Minnesota's new Democratic governor, Tim Walz, has said he would sign the bill if it reached his desk.
The Minnesota Senate measure would have set up a regulatory system for cultivating, manufacturing, distributing and retail sales of recreational marijuana in Minnesota in 2022. The bill also would have allowed people previously convicted of marijuana crimes to get their records expunged. Under the bill, it would remain illegal for marijuana to be sold to -- or used by -- people younger than 21.
Opponents of legalizing recreational marijuana warn about impaired driving and the effect of legalizing on teen use of marijuana.
Plymouth Police Chief Mike Goldstein testified against the bill.
"Based on the vetted data from states that have legalized the recreational use of marijuana, I cannot fathom how this is a good idea for Minnesota," Goldstein said.
The bill's sponsor, Sen. Melisa Franzen, a Democrat from Edina, conceded after the committee vote that her bill probably is dead. Franzen said she was disappointed the committee did not at least create a task force, Minnesota Public Radio News reported.
Minnesota allows for medical marijuana under strict rules but does not permit recreational use.
Minnesota DNR confirms zebra mussel larvae in Red Lake
ST. PAUL (AP) -- The state Department of Natural Resources has confirmed the presence of zebra mussel larvae in Red Lake in northern Minnesota.
The DNR announced the finding Monday after studying samples gathered last summer by biologists from the Red Lake Nation.
Zebra mussel larvae typically indicate the presence of a reproducing population of zebra mussels. No adult zebra mussels have been identified, but DNR research scientist Gary Montz said "the most reasonable conclusion" is that the larvae came from adult reproduction within the lake.
Montz said since Red Lake is large and shallow, it's impossible to estimate how many of the invasive pests may be in Upper Red Lake and where they're distributed from this sample.
Officials from the DNR and Red Lake Nation are working together to determine their next steps.