In mid November I traveled to Östersund. This lovely small city is the capital of Jämtland, one of my favorite parts of Sweden. Östersund lies near the geographic midpoint of Sweden and this gives reference to much in the town, for example, the University is named Mid-Sweden University... I took the photo below as I walked to the train having realized I had not taken one single photo in Östersund; the sign simply says, "the mid-point"...note the monster and Viking imagery (Östersund has both a rune stone and a Loch Ness-style monster living in the lake adjacent to the city).
Given its geographic proximity to the Norwegian border and a historic trade route to Trondheim, Jämtland has a strong cultural connection to Norway—in fact to the very part of Norway that some of my distant relatives came from.
Picture from Trondheim (September).
North of Trondheim, Lavanger in September (note the Sami style "kåta" tents).
I went to Östersund for the meeting of the Friluftsliv i Förändring Research team and their annual conference. The meeting was terrific, inspiring. Further, the gathering was productive as I was given a chance to share my ideas with the group and get some feedback. The group represents 7 different Swedish Universities as well as Naturvårdverket (sort of a cross between our DNR and EPA). The team's research varies from the economic to the demographic to the educational…i.e. topics ranging from biological diversity to urban planning for greenspace, etc....it is a multidisciplinary look at this Swedish connection to the natural landscape. If you are interested, check out the website of the group (there is a section in English).http://www.friluftsforskning.se/
My plans were to stay in Östersund for an additional three days to SKI! Östersund is a ski city and has a snow guarantee from Nov 1! Thus, I planned an intense three-day ski-athon. Unfortunately, it did not turn out quite like I dreamed it might. Warm weather a.k.a. rain put a huge damper on my plans…I skied one day, skied hard and had fun, but realized that the ice and slush, not to mention rain on 3 km of artificial snow (packed with great skiers) gave me a queasy feeling…I felt I was trying too hard. After a fit of ski passion despite the conditions, I caught a train back to Göteborg a couple days early.
The ski site is, however, amazing. A great network of trails, a stadium, and a biathlon shooting range make it a world-class facility…and the world was there…the Chinese National Team, The British National team, some of the Swedish National team…all training for an upcoming World Cup event scheduled for this next week.
In between travels I read and write as much as possible. I am diligently attempting to make headway on my dissertation review of literature. It is a slow process, punctuated with moments of great excitement…
I was in Stockholm this past week for a Thanksgiving lunch at the Embassy and a few museum tours with the Fulbright crew. I respect the effort the Fulbright Commission makes to promote our learning about Sweden--very mission driven.
I am realizing what a photo slacker I have been. No photos of “skiing," Fulbright events/Stockholm and no photo of my friend Patrick that I got to see in Stockholm after many years…but I did remember to get the camera out for my day at the Natural History museum…
I went to the museum to meet Dr. Jannike Räikkönen. Jannikke is an expert in identifying the genetic abnormalities in both Scandinavian wolves…and Isle Royale wolves!
Not only did I get a private lecture and tutorial in the population dynamics of the wolves in Sweden, I got a tour...bone collections, autopsy lab (a seal autopsy in progress--all seals are autopsied given their position on the top of the aquatic food chain and interest in bio-accumulation of persistent toxins), the bone boiler, the bone drying room, etc.
Seal skull drying.
The great excitement for me was to dig into the idea that the scientific work on wolves in Scandinavian supports the scientific work on wolves on Isle Royale and vice versa! OK, here is the connection. Swedish wolves live on an "Island," it is a cultural island based on human intolerance of wolves in Norway and in the reindeer herding parts of Sweden, literally an island. Isle Royale wolves live on a geographic island (a little easier to picture). Both populations can be traced back to a few individual wolves, the IR wolves are believed to have crossed an ice bridge from the Canadian shore in the year 1950, thus all current IR wolves are believed to be descendants of one female. Similarly, by 1980 it is believed that the Swedish wolves had died out; a male and a female from Finland were tracked in 1983 and are believed to have had reproductive success with a litter of 6 pups, thus reestablishing a Swedish population. Today, both wolf populations display genetic abnormalities thought to be the result of long-term genetic isolation (i.e. biologically limited gene pools). Jannikke is both helping to analyze IR bones and then is able to consider how the 50+ years of IR genetic isolation may reveal a trend that the Scandinavian wolves could experience if management does not consider the implications of this population isolation.
Currently, the Swedish government has put a cap on wolf population at 210 animals (in ALL of Sweden; note we have 2500-3000 wolves in Northern MN). Dr. Räikkönen believes that 500 wolves is the minimal number to preserve the health and genetic integrity of the species in Sweden. Perhaps the science from Isle Royale can inform the Swedish debate? If this is at all interesting, the Isle Royale Wolf web site has a section on "wolf bones", check it out for a more detailed explanation of the work that links Sweden and Isle Royale…there is one graph that "says" it all.
http://www.isleroyalewolf.org/overview/overview/wolf%20bones.html
Fjälls i Jämtland
Further thought on this...I have been reading a dissertation from Sweden titled, Protected Attractions: Tourism and Wilderness in the Swedish Mountain Region (Reinius, 2009). In the introduction, the author discusses the contradiction between how the landscape of the far North of Sweden is described as both the last large wilderness of Europe and the cultural landscape of the Sami people, whereas I usually get excited these days by ideas that show a unity between culture and nature, all I see now is a paradox in regard to the wolf situation. With a no-tolerance policy for wolves in Northern Sweden, it appears that cultural interests have hegemony over any sense of large carnivore biodiversity, thus I would caution against too much belief in a "wilderness" of Northern Sweden. Wolves simply are not allowed (culturally nor legislatively) to pass from Finland into the wolf "approved" parts of Sweden (mostly Dalarna and Värmland). It should also be noted that the region in Finland along the Swedish border is yet another no-tolerance zones for wolves. You have to travel toward the Russian border to get to a wolf neutral part of Finland. And the entire country of Norway seems to be a no-tolerance zone for wolves as well...seems that the landscape of sheep is always prioritized over the landscape of large predators there.
This debate over the place of large predators is a contemporary question the world over. It is a question of nature and culture and where the overlap or connection exists. Further, it is question of sustainability, the sustainability of large carnivore biodiversity….
Final thought...Dr. Räikkönen is both incredibly friendly and welcoming as she is informed and professional in her work. She is a natural fit for the kind of science that is taking place on Isle Royale; the Science of Rolf, John, Leah, Candy and others...science that understands that it has a responsibility to inform not only the scientific community, but the the public as well. There is a huge role for education in all of this; environmental educators must be the link in providing access to such science so that the public can make informed decisions...
