Isle Royale
Isle Royale is an
island of the Great Lakes, located in the northwest of
Lake Superior. The island and the surrounding smaller islands and waters make up
Isle Royale National Park.
It is 45
miles (74
km) long and 9 miles (14 km) wide, with an area of 206.73
square miles (
535.42 km²). It is defined by the
United States Census Bureau as
Census Tract 9603 of
Keweenaw County, Michigan. As of the
2000 census there was no permanent population.
[Census Tract 9603, Keweenaw County United States Census Bureau]It is
United States territory (even though it is closer to the Canadian coastline) and is part of the state of
Michigan. In 1875, Isle Royale was set off from
Keweenaw County as a separate county, "Isle Royale County". In 1897, the county was dissolved, and the island was reincorporated into Keweenaw County. The highest point on the island is Mount Desor at 1,394
feet (425
m), or about 800 feet (250 m) above lake level.
Isle Royale was once the site of a
lake trout and
whitefish fishery, a resort community, and unprofitable
copper mines. It was also the site of crude copper mining by
Native Americans, centuries earlier. Today it has no permanent inhabitants; the small communities of Scandinavian fishermen were removed by the United States Park Service shortly after the Isle became a national park in mid-century.
Isle Royale is within about 22 miles (35 km) of the
Canadian shore of the lake, near the city of
Thunder Bay, Ontario, and about 50 miles (80 km) from the Michigan shore, on the
Keweenaw Peninsula. There are seasonal passenger ferry services to the island from
Grand Portage, Minnesota,
Copper Harbor, Michigan, and
Houghton, Michigan. There are no roads on the island.
It is well known among
ecologists as the site of a long-term study of a
predator-prey system, between
moose and
wolves. Before the self-introduction of wolves to the island (crossing winter ice from Ontario), coyotes were the primary predators. Prior to that,
caribou and
lynx dominated. Other common mammals are
red foxes,
beavers,
red squirrels, and
snowshoe hares.
*
Satellite Image of Isle Royale from Google*
Geological history of Isle Royale*
