OUTDOORS COLUMN: State debate - hunt elk or reintroduce them?

There was only one major agenda item on the table yesterday at the October board meeting of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, but it generated much discussion.

At issue was a proposed regulation amendment that would prohibit the hunting of Rocky Mountain elk in Virginia effective immediately. Currently, small numbers of elk - anywhere from dozens to perhaps 200 - roam across the state line from Kentucky, where the species was reintroduced 12 years ago. Virginia hunters can take them on a deer tag during any part of the deer season.

Before the board voted, it heard comments both for and against the proposal, widely seen as a first step toward a possible reintroduction of elk into the commonwealth.

Farmers and representatives of the Farm Bureau from many of the southwestern Virginia counties where elk reside voiced their vehement opposition to the regulation amendment and to the larger question of elk reintroduction. They cited crop damage and the possible introduction of diseases transmissible from elk to livestock.

"I don't want anything to change until you have thoroughly looked at what we consider a problem," said Emily Edmondson, a member of the Virginia Farm Bureau board and a cattle producer in Tazewell County.

Wilmer Stoneman, the bureau's associate director of governmental relations, echoed those sentiments, urging the board to let all the interested parties have input on a possible reintroduction plan before disallowing the taking of elk on a deer tag.

On the other side of the issue were representatives of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and the Virginia Bowhunters Association, who spoke in favor of the amendment.

In the end, the board likely pleased and frustrated both sides. It voted to table the amendment, calling the decision an "olive branch" to the Farm Bureau and citing the "enforcement issue" that would occur from stopping elk hunting mid-season, but it also instructed DGIF staff to come up with a full plan for the potential restoration of elk by April.

Earlier in the meeting Wildlife Division Director Bob Ellis outlined such a plan, which would include elements like defining possible restoration areas, establishing population goals, deciding on active versus passive restoration options and protecting against disease transmission.

He also presented the results of the public comments the DGIF received after the board brought up the possible regulation amendment in August. Of the 237 Web comments, 108 supported and 42 opposed the now-tabled amendment. An even greater majority supported the idea of elk restoration - 159 to 24.

Those numbers seem to corroborate the input board chairman Charles Yates told me he's received in recent months.

"I have had some contact with people very interested in [elk hunting]," said Yates, who represents Virginia's far southwestern counties on the board. "I think it's pretty early; A lot of people are unaware that an initiative is underway, but I have had some significant interest with sportsmen calling me, encouraging me. So I'm inclined to believe there's substantial support for elk reintroduction."

(For more on the possibility of elk reintroduction in Virginia, see my Sunday column.)

. . .

In other game department news, I spoke yesterday with Gary Martel, Fisheries Division Director. He said the long-awaited renovations to the Coursey Springs Fish Cultural Station in Bath County will be completed on schedule this December.

This is welcome news for Virginia anglers, especially trout fishermen. Before it went offline almost a year and a half ago, the rearing facility accounted for 30 percent of the 1.2 million trout stocked by the DGIF annually.

Martel said they plan on putting fish in by this spring.

"Of course we'll have to do all the testing," he said. "We'll begin loading fish this spring, but we'll be testing all the systems. So we'll bring it up to capacity slowly. We won't challenge the system probably for a year or two."

The first stockable fish - likely rainbow trout - will hit state waters in the fall of 2010. One result of the updated facility will be larger stocked trout statewide - up to an average of 11-12 inches from the current 9-10.