Minnesota

Minnesota moose population is holding steady

Published

2 months ago

March 25, 2026

Minnesota moose population is holding steady

DULUTH — Minnesota’s moose population has remained stable for another year, though it remains about half the size as two decades ago.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources said its annual aerial survey, conducted with the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and the 1854 Treaty Authority,

estimated

that approximately 4,470 moose remain in St. Louis, Lake and Cook counties, the animal’s typical range in the state.

That’s up about 400 from last year’s estimate.“Despite recent estimates suggesting relative stability in the population and reproductive success, Minnesota DNR researchers point out that Minnesota moose remain at risk,” the DNR said in a news release. “Climate change, parasites, habitat loss and predator impacts on calf survival all play a part in the long-term survival of the moose population.”

Jimmy Lovrien / Duluth Media Group

Northeastern Minnesota’s moose numbers crashed rapidly nearly two decades ago, from a modern high of 8,840 moose estimated in 2006 to just 2,700 by 2013. Their numbers have remained low but fairly stable since.

That rapid decline spurred an effort to reestablish moose habitat in the region. Now in its 15th year, there are promising signs that it is working.

Bringing moose habitat back

Moose thrive in young forests where they can reach and eat deciduous trees and brush while also having access to a few larger trees to shade under.

But most of Northeastern Minnesota is covered in mature forest that hasn’t been touched by processes that can produce such environments in a long time, namely, wildfires and logging.

“Across Minnesota over the past few decades, the forest is getting older, and so seeing this older forest and these lower moose numbers kind of get you thinking more critically about what needs to happen with habitat,” said Alyssa Roberts, forest wildlife specialist at the Ruffed Grouse Society and American Woodcock Society.

So, over the last 15 years, a collaborative of government agencies, Indigenous tribes and conservation groups has been allocated nearly $9 million from Minnesota’s Outdoor Heritage Fund through the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council to restore some 24,000 acres of moose habitat. Another 3,000 acres or so will be restored through an America the Beautiful grant over the next two years.

The Ruffed Grouse Society and American Woodcock Society has served as sponsor of the collaborative since 2021.

“Historically, routine medium- or variable-intensity fires would have maintained this deciduous browse available on the landscape,” said Scott Johnson, the group’s forest conservation coordinator for Minnesota. “But with that lacking, mechanical treatments need to come in.”

When fire suppression snuffed out the naturally occurring fires, commercial logging operations could still leave landscapes in ways that benefit moose.

But with the decline in the region’s wood products industry over the last 15 to 20 years, there are fewer places that need timber from Northeastern Minnesota.

Still, the collaborative can “piggyback” off wildfires and timber harvests that do occur, and begin to maintain those areas as moose habitat going forward, Johnson said.

“In a sustainable fashion for this to persist over a long period, ultimately, what we’re looking at is following up disturbances, or creating disturbances on purpose — prescribed fire, timber harvest, mechanical site preparation, brush sawing — to maintain and produce on these disturbed sites a mosaic of new conifers growing in, through planting or seeding, with a mix of accessible, high-quality browse,” Johnson said.

It seems to be working, said Chris Dunhum, associate director of resilience forestry at the Nature Conservancy, which is also part of the collaborative.

Moose are showing up and eating their way through the areas, as are juvenile moose, some of which were collared this winter and could offer researchers more insight into how the sites are used, he added.

In a long list of factors negatively affecting moose, Dunham said it is nice to have something that helps.

“If we think about climate change impacts, that’s really concerning and we can kind of feel sort of helpless at times … but then when we’re talking about moose habitat, we’ve seen that we can go out there and we can manipulate the habitat, and we know how to do that,” Dunham said. “And we’ve seen from the early monitoring that moose are actually using those sites.”

Climate change and parasites

Mike Schrage, the wildlife program manager for the Fond du Lac Band, said he’s of the camp that most of the moose decline is due to habitat loss now that there’s less logging and wildfires are suppressed.

But, he said, climate change represents “a long-term threat to our moose population” in a number of ways.

For one, moose are designed for cold climates and deep snow, making them ill-adapted for warmer climates and likely to face more heat stress, he said.

moose with ticks — A scrawny bull moose fitted with a GPS transmitter collar on Isle Royale photographed in 2021. The moose had rubbed off much of its hair, likely due to winter ticks. He may also have been starving due to a lack of winter food on the island.

Additionally, climate change can boost parasites.

Thousands of winter ticks can latch onto a moose, causing it to scratch off its protective coat of hair in an attempt to rid itself of the ticks. “Certainly longer, warmer falls and earlier springs make for better conditions for winter tick survival and transmission to a moose host,” Schrage said. “So that’s not helpful.”

And then there’s brainworm, called P. tenuis, which is spread through white-tailed deer and snails, and, while harmless to deer, is usually fatal to moose. Moose in areas of higher deer densities are more likely to pick up the disease. It’s considered one of the major factors in Minnesota’s severe moose population decline over the past 20 years.

And milder winters can lead to more deer, Schrage said, boosting chances of brainworm transmission. Milder winters also mean more wolves, which, along with parasites, are known to kill moose calves needed to rebuild the population, Schrage said.

Research by the DNR, 1854 Treaty Authority, Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and the National Parks of Lake Superior kicked off this winter to further understand survival rates of juvenile moose and determine causes of mortality.

But among all the factors stressing moose, reestablishing habitat might be the most tangible solution so far.

“There are a lot of things that affected that precipitous decline in our moose population back in the early 2000s … habitat is the thing we knew that we could start affecting positively immediately,” Johnson said.

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Minnesota

The midterms loom as another chance for Minnesota to set an example for the nation

Published

10 hours ago

May 29, 2026

Press Room

The midterms loom as another chance for Minnesota to set an example for the nation

by Tom Mohr, MinnPost
May 29, 2026

How often history turns on the courage and conviction of a desperate few.

Consider Ukraine. Consider Minnesota.

Two peoples. Different arenas. Yet in the crucible, each faced the same demand: defend your own and save democracy — or lose both.

And the people answered yes.

Ukraine has shown the world what it takes to fight an authoritarian force from without: courage, ingenuity, self-sacrifice, stamina. A love of country so great that a whole people has willingly suffered years of war rather than bow to tyranny.

Minnesota has shown the world what it takes to resist authoritarian force from within: moral clarity, peaceful and creative mass action, legal resistance, public witness, democratic solidarity. A love of neighbor so deep that fear, winter and even bloodshed could not empty the streets or silence the whistles.

The lesson is the same in both places: Democracy is fragile. It cannot save itself. It survives grave threat only when ordinary people decide that comfort and normalcy must give way to the defense of freedom.

Minnesota: This past winter, we awakened America.

We showed millions that hate can be defeated by love, tyranny by unity, and anti-democratic machinations by the disciplined courage of a free people. We did it, in the words of Bruce Springsteen, with “our blood and bones and these whistles and phones” — and with them, we stirred the conscience of a nation.

But Minnesota: We must awaken America again.

For the midterms loom.

Our winter fight was one skirmish in a much broader battle. Across this nation, the assault on our constitutional republican democracy continues unabated. Free and fair elections are under attack. The rule of law is under attack. The separation of powers is under attack. The free press, freedom of speech and the right to protest without intimidation are under attack.

So the question rings out: Who will stoke the fire of resistance? Who will stand again for democracy? Who will bring America back to the streets, and from the streets to the ballot box in November?

Minnesota, let it be us.

Doubt not that our president, his administration, and his Republican Party are working in lockstep to bend our free republic toward tyranny. They advance by pressure, threat, intimidation, distortion and the steady bending of rules. Watch them gerrymander where they can. Restrict voting where they can. Flood the zone with lies. Attack election workers. Pre-poison trust in outcomes.

All to make us feel powerless. Isolated. Afraid.

We cannot let that happen. We must rise again, Minnesota; we must lead America again — all the way to the ballot box.

Let this be our next Minnesota miracle.

Because we cannot lose this election. We must win. Not narrowly. Not barely. We must win so decisively that no trick can overcome it, so broadly that no lie can explain it away, so clearly that America’s birthright is reclaimed — and the long journey of healing can begin.

Our part is to flip Minnesota’s two most reachable red congressional districts — the First and Eighth. We will do it by forging a grand coalition:

Minnesota Blue joined with Minnesota Middle.

Let’s be clear: In Minnesota and across the nation, it will not be enough simply to turn out the blue base. A victory large enough to overcome every trick, lie, and scheme will require the middle.

And the middle can be won.

Not by asking people to abandon every conviction they hold. Not by asking conservatives to become liberals, or independents to become Democrats. But by helping our neighbors see the stakes clearly: this is not an ordinary election, to be decided by ordinary policy preferences or old party habits.

This is a democracy election.

And in a democracy election, the question is not: Which party do I usually prefer?

The question is: Which vote will best preserve our constitutional republican democracy?

Minnesota, it’s on us to build on the moral authority we won this winter. To show the nation the way: Blue and middle, hand in hand.

Democrats. Independents. Disillusioned Republicans. People of faith. People of conscience. Veterans. Students. Teachers. Nurses. Farmers. Union workers. Small-business owners. Parents, grandparents and first-time voters.

All gathered around one sacred civic duty: to defend the republic.

With whistle parades and coffee meetups, voter registration drives and neighbor-to-neighbor conversations, let us organize. Not only in Minneapolis and St. Paul. In Rochester, Duluth, Mankato, Winona, the Iron Range, and in Olmsted, Blue Earth, Steele, Freeborn, Carlton, Itasca, St. Louis and Beltrami counties.

Let us go to college towns and mining towns, lake country and Trump country — wherever blue voters must be reawakened, and wherever voters who have voted red may yet prove to be members of the vast quiet middle, ready to hear the call of democracy.

This is our hour, Minnesota.

Let not our whistles go silent. Let not our streets stay empty. Let not the blue base grow weary. Let not the middle go unreached.

Organize. Mobilize. Work. And win.

Win by a margin no scheme can defeat.

Toward that end, may we Minnesotans highly resolve anew:

“That government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

Tom Mohr is founder and CEO of CEO Quest, a CEO coaching company; author of “Letters to Rising Leaders”; and creator of the “We The Middle Vote” substack (WeTheMiddleVote.substack.com).

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Minnesota

Small Minnesota farms feeling the impact of high beef prices

Published

22 hours ago

May 28, 2026

Press Room

Small Minnesota farms feeling the impact of high beef prices

Beef prices have climbed to record highs this year, and consumers are noticing.

That’s due in part to the U.S. cattle herd being the smallest it’s been in 75 years due to drought and high feed costs. John Lauritsen shows us how that’s impacting smaller beef producers in Minnesota.

“In 2008 we started with three cows. And we didn’t sell our first beef to consumers until 2011,” said Josh Krenz of Windland Flats Farm near Princeton.

But for the past 15 years, Krenz said his Highland Cattle have been in high demand. The long-haired cows are a niche product, and over the past 5 years consumers have been contacting Windland Flats Farm for their steaks and ground beef.

“It’s super lean but really tender and has a lot of marbling to it still,” said Krenz.

The rising popularity of Highland meat has allowed Krenz to expand. The natives of Scotland are hearty animals and good grazers who need shade but not barns, so they’re cost-effective to raise. But lately, Krenz has wondered what the future holds for his herd, as consumers adjust.

WCCO

“They are not buying in bulk packages that we used to sell. They are buying smaller just trying to go from paycheck to paycheck is what it feels like.”

Instead of buying 35-pound packages for about $450 like they have in the past, lately their clients have been looking to buy just a fraction of that.

“We just see people wanting to go down to 10 pounds or 15 pounds or maybe they aren’t coming back at all,” said Krenz.

And it’s forced Windland Flats and other farms like them to make a number of adjustments when it comes to promoting their product and limiting their overhead costs.”

“That’s what we are doing the most is watching our costs. Some of that is using technology to lower labor costs. Optimizing the land because we aren’t going to be able to afford to buy more land in 5 years if we aren’t going to have that income flow coming in,” said Krenz.

There’s still hope that things will turn around. In the meantime, it’s business as usual for the Highlands.

“Just as an economy as a whole, everybody is watching their wallet really hard right now,” said Krenz.

In Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa, there are about 250 members of the American Highland Cattle Association.

In:

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Minnesota

Wildcat Sanctuary: Rio the Ocelot Turns 27

Published

1 day ago

May 28, 2026

Press Room

Wildcat Sanctuary: Rio the Ocelot Turns 27

A beloved ocelot named Rio is celebrating an incredible milestone at the Wildcat Sanctuary in Sandstone, Minnesota — her 27th birthday! This stunning medium-sized wildcat is known for her gorgeous spotted coat and distinctive ring-patterned tail. Tammy Thies, founder and executive director of the Wildcat Sanctuary, joined Minnesota Live to share more about Rio’s remarkable life. Learn more here.

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