Brookings Wildlife Federation to hear about moose in national park

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BROOKINGS – The Brookings Wildlife Federation will host William Severud at its monthly infolunch at the Outdoor Adventure Center, 2810 22nd Ave., at noon Friday.

Severud will take attendees to Minnesota’s Voyageurs National Park to learn about moose.

Severud is an assistant professor at SDSU’s Natural Resource Management Department.

He has worked extensively at Voyageurs and received a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. His research focused on moose calf survival.

Past BWF President Spencer Vaa said “The BWF is lucky to have the SDSU faculty and students as members and expert speakers.” Vaa added “The BWF’s resident chef, Linda Vaa, will serve a light lunch, including drinks and dessert for a free-will offering.”

Voyageurs National Park encompasses 340 square miles, which is about six times larger than Brookings County. The park is well known as a transition land between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, with exposed rock ridges, cliffs, wetlands, forests, streams and lakes. The park’s forests graduate from northern hardwoods in the south to southern boreal in the north. Boreal forests are high-latitude, cold forests.

The boreal forest is a moose habitat. Voyageurs is about as far south as the continental moose population extends and is one of only a few national parks in the lower 48 states that have moose. The moose population within Voyageurs has remained fairly constant since the late 1990s, with an average of 40 to 50 moose; a low-density population compared further east in Minnesota and Ontario.

However, moose populations have been declining in some areas, as the animals are stressed by parasites, disease, predation and heat during the summer months. Some of these factors do not kill a moose directly, but can weaken the animal and make it more susceptible to predation or malnutrition.

The most vulnerable age is the calf.

Severud will inform attendees about how these factors affect the long-term status of the populations. The average moose stands at a shoulder height of over 6 feet and weighs nearly 1,000 pounds.

Severud grew up in Plymouth, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis. After graduating from Carleton College he received a master’s degree in biology from Northern Michigan University, then attended the University of Minnesota.

At SDSU, he teaches and leads students in studies of health of big game, such as bison, bighorn sheep, white-tailed deer, and moose.

The BWF is affiliated with the South Dakota Wildlife Federation and the National Wildlife Federation.

The BWF is in its 42nd year of supplying conservation information and activities to the Brookings community. For more information, contact BWF President Bob Kurtz at 605-695-1361.