Quetico-Superior Ecosystem
moose (Alces alces)
Quetico-Superior is a 10-million-acre international ecoregion straddling the Minnesota-Ontario border. The area contains 2.5 million protected acres, including the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, the largest federally designated wilderness in the United States east of the Rocky Mountains and north of the Everglades, and Voyageurs National Park. Just over the border is Ontario's 1.18-million-acre Ontario's Quetico Provincial Park.
Taken together, these wilderness parks are collectively referred to as the Boundary Waters, or Quetico-Superior country. Its wetlands, lakes, and rivers form a huge network of connected waterways that link the region from Lake Superior to Hudson Bay. These waterways are critical to sustaining the diverse wildlife such as moose, black bear, gray wolf, Canada lynx, and abundant fish species.
The Quetico-Superior ecosystem serves as a vital wildlife corridor for these and other species to move between Canada and the United States. This freedom of movement and connectivity will only become more important as the climate warms and species struggle to adapt. And no animal right now is having more difficulty adapting than the iconic moose.
Biologists estimate the moose population has declined by nearly 50 percent in Minnesota over the last 20 years, with a near-collapse in northwestern part of the state. In the mid-1980s there were approximately 4,000 moose in the area, but current estimates show that this number has dropped to fewer than 100 individuals. While factors like disease and predation contribute to moose mortality, scientists have concluded that heat stress from global warming is the biggest reason for the animal's decline.
The moose faces the same challenges in the Quetico-Superior ecosystem. Statewide, the moose population has fallen by half over the last two decades. There are now less than 3,000 animals in Northeastern Minnesota and less than 300 in the Northwestern portion of the state. The Minnesota Moose Advisory Committee, directed by the state Legislature to come up with responses to the decline, has acknowledged the possibility that moose may disappear from Minnesota altogether by 2050 if present trends continue.
As the climate warms, temperatures of rivers and lakes in the area are rising, and longer growing periods for plants are causing the region's boreal forests to move north, with lower flows that threaten freshwater salmon and trout, a key food source for bald eagles. The Great Lakes are already experiencing lower water levels, with some studies pointing to climate change as a factor.
Promoting the resiliency of the Quetico-Superior ecosystem on a large scale is necessary to protect both the animal and plant species of the region from the worst the effects of climate change. The Sierra Club is working to secure additional protections and prevent additional stresses to help the Quetico-Superior area adapt to the effects of climate change. Among the Sierra Club's 10-year objectives for Quetico-Superior:
- Stop proposed sulfide mining near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area
- Block legislation in Congress to allow a land swap in Superior National Forest intended to facilitate the open-pit Polymet copper-nickel mine
- Enforce protection for designated critical habitat for the Canada Lynx
- Secure protection for 90,000 acres of roadless areas within the Superior National Forest.
- Build demand for protection of the moose and its habitat
- Prevent premature delisting of the wolf in Minnesota