Elk may be on the way back

A little less than a year ago I wrote about the possible reintroduction of a substantial elk herd in Virginia. The eastern elk, of course, was native to Virginia and much of the eastern United States, but, due to hunting and habitat loss, the subspecies was extirpated from the region before the turn of the 20th century.

But the Rocky Mountain elk subspecies is very much alive, and a year ago there were rumblings that Virginia might join states such as Kentucky and Tennessee in reintroducing elk. They were just rumblings then.

On Thursday, the board of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries took the first logical step toward a possible reintroduction by ordering game department biologists to come up with a restoration plan by next April. The action doesn't mean we're on our way to watching thousands of elk roam freely in southwestern Virginia. But it does mean that scenario is gathering momentum.

Board chairman Charles Yates, who represents the state's southwestern counties where elk already cross into Virginia from Kentucky, said he's received a considerable amount of interest from constituents interested in bringing back elk.

I know plenty of Virginia hunters who've traveled to places like Colorado to go elk hunting. That's why it'll be intriguing to see the public reaction to the restoration plan the game department biologists present this spring.

But there are significant hurdles to clear before the DGIF would go ahead with a restoration plan. And some groups already are on record as opposing it.

On Oct. 1, the Virginia Farm Bureau issued a news release stating that it's against re-establishing a Virginia elk herd.

"Elk have been found throughout history in Virginia. Few exist today because of diseases, illegal hunting and urban sprawl," said Wilmer Stoneman, associate director of governmental relations for the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation. "None of these factors has changed enough to warrant spending tax dollars on reintroduction of elk, allowing crop damage or endangering livestock health."

On Thursday, maybe a dozen cattle farmers and Farm Bureau representatives from Virginia's southwestern counties spoke in opposition to a possible plan.

Yates countered strongly, reading off a list of people he'd talked to - from cooperative extension agents to farm bureau reps - about Kentucky's successful reintroduction (it now has about 11,000 elk). All of them said they support the continued effort.

"We want a lot more discussion," Yates said earlier in the week. "I would hope if we decide on something it would be something that would be satisfactory to the Farm Bureau. I know in Kentucky the farm bureau did not oppose that program."

Among the Farm Bureau's concerns is crop damage from an enlarged herd. Stoneman noted in the release that "elk require more than 20 pounds of forage per day."

Another challenge would be guarding against the introduction of Chronic Wasting Disease, which has struck deer and elk populations in the western United States. The disease is fatal, untreatable and cannot be tested for without killing the animal.

For that reason, said Bob Ellis, DGIF Wildlife Division Director, the department has taken a cautious approach to allowing animals from other states into Virginia. Elk would be no different, if it is determined that stocking is the best way to establish a herd. Kentucky has not seen any CWD in its 12-year-old herd, he noted.

"Those initial stockings will cause you some concern . . . but it makes us feel a little more comfortable [that no CWD has been detected]."

Ellis said the "job over the winter is to really come up with some of the components of this restoration plan and have something presentable by April."

Those components include questions like, "Where would we put elk in Virginia? What would the goals be in terms of the number of animals? Where are you going to get them?"

It's early, and there are many questions to be answered, but the idea of large numbers elk roaming freely in Virginia isn't as far off as it once was.