Chatfield, MN – Throughout the history of its Conservation program, the Pope & Young Club has supported various big-game wildlife research studies. That continues with the Club’s support of a study being conducted in Michigan’s Isle Royale National Park on how the overpopulation of moose directly affects their habitat. The principal goal of this study is to assist land and wildlife managers in promoting and managing a healthy and sustainable ecosystem. For fifty-nine years the unique wolf, moose, predator/prey relationship found on Isle Royale has been studied by land, and wildlife biologists and P&Y is honored to assist in the continuance of those studies.
“The Pope and Young Club has been vital to conservation efforts with their focus on education and outreach, it was for that reason I chose to apply for a research grant through this organization,” stated Zachary Merrill, M.A., Ph.D. Student, Graduate Teaching Associate Geography Department, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville. “The grant will go towards assisting me in my summer travel and fieldwork expenses incurred during the summer of 2018 on Isle Royale National Park. Because of the grant money, I was able to hire a local undergraduate student to assist me in the field and teach them about conservation practices and dendrochronological applications. My research entailed sampling balsam fir (Abies balsamea) and white spruce (Picea glauca) trees to investigate evidence of moose herbivory and identify periods of possible overpopulation starvation events that have occurred in the past. Evidence of moose browse on the balsam fir is prevalent from the exterior conditions of the tree, and preliminarily results suggest that there is sufficient evidence within the tree rings to possibly reconstruct moose population. This is important in terms of conservation because it potentially adds a new tool for conservationists and wildlife managers to look into past populations of a variety of ungulate species across North America. In the end, this will assist in better understanding the effectiveness and implementation of sustainable harvest.”
The Pope and Young Club is a non-profit North American conservation and bowhunting organization dedicated to the promotion and protection of bowhunting by striving to increase awareness and appreciation of bowhunting foundations, principles and values. The Pope and Young Club is focused on Fair Chase hunting ethics that support the ethical pursuit of free-ranging, wild game animals without unfair advantage while promoting the conservation of both habitat and wildlife. The Club also maintains the universally recognized repository of records and statistics on North American big game animals harvested with a bow and arrow.
Pope & Young Club office: www.pope-young.org. USPS – P.O. Box 548, Chatfield, MN 55923, or by phone at 507.867.4144
