With a little help from the House of Representatives, the town of Newberry hopes to become a moose mecca. The Michigan House adopted a resolution to commemorate the town as the state's official "moose capital." The declaration describes the state's efforts to reintroduce moose after they were nearly wiped out in the Lower Peninsula and significantly reduced in the Upper Peninsula.
Although moose were given complete protection in Michigan in 1889, their
numbers continued to drop due to a range of factors, including prior forest
fragmentation and parasites. In 1985 and 1987, the state brought 59 moose
from Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada, to Marquette County.
Moose have remained in the area ever since.
Tahquamenon Falls State Park, located 25 miles north of Newberry, produces
more moose sightings than any other place in the state. Newberry hopes
to capitalize on the moose by using its new official designation as a
marketing identity to attract tourists.
—Rosie Cataldo
