Isle Royale Forums

JerryB wrote: Fri Mar 14, 2025 8:27 am

RedLeg wrote: Thu Mar 13, 2025 5:06 pm Yes but No. That's a miserable excuse because this started WELL before the new administration. NPS should have been in front of this the beginning of last season in May when the problem was identified.

New food storage rules should have been ironed out and published before last seasons close.

Thirty days out is just a compounded failure

I am not concerned. How much advance notice do we need?

Well that's a good question... Park opens in like 27 days, one would like to think they would be in front of that date just a bit more than they are. I'm like 52 days out until boots on ground with our group and I'm the only one with a ursack. I know there are boaters who are planning for April pre-season camping too.

So what is "appropriate" lead time for the sixty some people on first boat out of Grand Portage who potentially all need to purchase storage now? It's not "fifty days or less",

We will see far bigger disruptions this year at the park, I expect, due to budget and personnel cuts. We will all need to be flexible and adaptable to surprises. Frankly, whether i need an Ursak or not, and whether i know the answer now or a few weeks before my trip, is the least of my concerns. I suspect the NPS staff is overwhelmed with their own uncertain futures.

Park disruptions will impact lots of people, however as long as the boat drops is at the dock, it's highly unlikely it will bother us. I already own an ursack and it wouldn't bother me to drop the $$$ on one on short notice if I didn't. That however isn't the reality for a high percentage of folks traveling to the island in May. That $100 could make or break the trip for a lot of hikers this year or cause them to choose another location.
The reality is life isn't fair but they should have this ironed out last year. It's not rocket science to take a pre existing policy and modify it to your own. The current administration can suck my nutt sack but blaming this situation on political turmoil simply isn't fair.

At the end of the day you have to look in the mirror and ask yourself if you are representational of the average hiker the island sees throughout the season. I'd venture to say most of the regulars here are not the "average or mean" hikers. I however could be far off in that assessment.

I hope those that get to ISRO NP, in the early months of this season, will post the effects of the impact on our special park from what is happening in the DC. I'm also worried about the campgrounds in our National Forests and the Corp. of Engineer sites.

Nope, no need to rush that food storage announcement... absolutely acceptable

So the 2025 Greenstone is out, and the food storage regulations are a bit beyond what I expected. Maybe it's bad writing, but check out page 3, green box near the bottom.

If I'm reading this right, if you're in a tent site you must both put food in a bear-proof canister and place the canister in a food storage locker or else hang it. It's not exactly ambiguous either:

1. Store items in animal-resistant container.
2. If in a shelter, keep container in shelter.
3. If in a tent site, place container in food storage locker.
4. If no food storage locker, hang container 12 feet high, 6 feet from tree trunk. If unable to hang, secure container to a boulder, log, or tree 200 feet from camp.

I'm not familiar with requirements out west, but I'd be surprised if they are as strict as this.

Are the wolves climbing trees now?

dcclark wrote: Mon Apr 14, 2025 2:49 pm I'm not familiar with requirements out west, but I'd be surprised if they are as strict as this.

in the jurisdictions I visit, when bear-resistant food storage is required, the requirement is either an approved bear canister or a food locker. (The bears have figured out how to outwit hangs.*) There's no requirement to use both----which is a good thing, because most places most people camp don't even have food lockers!

*and, in some cases, bear canisters, by the simple expedient of tumbling them off of giant cliffs, then descending to where they land and shatter to eat the freeze dried chilimac.

...so which of the "approved" containers holds 30 days worth of food?

torpified wrote: Tue Apr 15, 2025 7:05 am *and, in some cases, bear canisters, by the simple expedient of tumbling them off of giant cliffs, then descending to where they land and shatter to eat the freeze dried chilimac.

Having experienced Ultra Red Freeze-Dried Chili-Mac, I think this is its own punishment and natural selection should breed this tendency out of the population quickly.

For such a wooded island, finding an appropriate branch 12 feet up and extending six feet out is quite difficult. Given that wolves are seldom seen perched on high branches of trees(!), my philosophy is not to let the perfect be the enemy of the good. I also have to laugh at the thought of a bunch of bear canisters hanging from evergreens. What a weird Christmas tree!

I like to picture the wolves as lobos celebrating Cinco de Mayo, treating the suspended cannisters as pinatas. They still lack opposable thumbs, right?