EDITOR’S NOTE: Superiorland Yesterdays is prepared by the reference staff at the Peter White Public Library in Marquette.

30 years ago

MARQUETTE — A wolf study in Wisconsin and Minnesota headed by a Northern Michigan University professor has received a financial boost from a major outdoor clothing manufacturer. Patagonia Co. of Ventura, California, has donated $5,000 to the research project headed by NMU biology professor William Robinson. In its fifth year, the research is aimed at determining man’s impact on movement of the eastern timber wolf and to what extent wolves use forest roads, Robinson said.

“We’re finding that suburban wolves are very nocturnal, and that they are not active during the daylight when the chance for encounter with humans is greater,” Robinson said. Research is also showing that existing forest roads are used by wolves wherever practical, especially roads that have limited travel.

Roads with gates that limit access are used much more than roads that are open to the public, Robinson reported.

Main funding for the project comes through Earthwatch, a private environmental organization based in Boston. Massachusetts.

60 years ago

HOUGHTON — A group of business and professional men has raised $60,000 toward a goal of $100,000 for a planned new boat works.

Sponsors said they expect no trouble in raising $40,000 through subscriptions ranging from $100 to $5,000.

The group, called the Copper Country Industrial Center, plans to lease or buy the building of the Dollar Bay Wire Mill, which closed last March.

The shutdown idled 80 persons in Dollar Bay, a community of 700. The group plans to build 16- and 18-foot outboard motor boats and small cruisers. Spokesmen said the area is well suited to pleasure boat manufacturing.

Dollar Bay is on the Portage Canal, a 25-mile protected waterway between the Keweenaw Bay and Lake Superior. Ultimately the plant may employ 100 workers.