DNR issues draft moose management plan

Wildlife managers hope a new moose management plan will keep the immense icons roaming the Arrowhead for generations to come.

The draft plan seeks to bolster research into what is killing Minnesota's moose faster than they can reproduce and to find out what the state can do to turn the population around.

The Department of Natural Resources estimates about 4,900 moose live in northeastern Minnesota, down 11 percent from last year and down from more than 8,000 a decade ago. Moose in the northwestern part of the state are down to an alarming population of 100.

The DNR proposal includes measures to restrict deer populations in northeastern Minnesota because they carry parasites fatal to moose. Tighter restrictions on hunting are also in the draft plan which is open for public comment through Sept. 30.