Isle Royale

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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), the largest naturally isolated island in Lake Superior (though smaller than Copper Island). 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. ^[1]

It is United States territory (even though it is closer to the Canadian coastline) and is part of the state of Michigan (even though it is closer to Minnesota). 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 is 56 miles (90 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.