October 2003

Contact:
Doug Williams
Public Affairs
(360) 902-2256

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) and Point Elliott treaty Indian tribes plan to relocate up to 100 elk over the next two years from the Mt. St. Helens area to a forested area between the Nooksack and Skagit rivers in northern Puget Sound.

This is a cooperative effort between state and tribal wildlife managers to restore the North Cascades elk herd to a sustainable population that can eventually support some level of hunting. WDFW and tribal biologists, along with volunteers, are working on the relocation effort and follow-up monitoring of the relocated animals. WDFW and the tribes are sharing the cost of this project.

The move of up to 50 elk in 2003 and the planned move of another 50 animals in 2004 is an effort to augment the North Cascades elk herd, which has seen a dramatic decline in its numbers since the mid 1980s. A number of factors have led to the decline in the North Cascades herd, including over-hunting and changes in habitat.

The state and tribes banned all elk hunting in the herd's core area beginning in 1993, and have agreed to maintain the hunting closure until the population has been significantly increased. The herd must meet certain population thresholds that are outlined in WDFW's North Cascade Elk Herd Management Plan before hunting would be allowed to resume.

The state, tribes, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and private forest landowners have completed several elk habitat enhancement projects. Prime elk habitat has been purchased in the North Cascade herd's core area. Road closures have been enacted in critical elk-rearing areas to reduce harassment.

Biologists believe that relocating elk into the North Cascade herd's core home range will be the most effective method of increasing the strength of the herd in the shortest amount of time. Relocation could cut the cooperative rebuilding effort timeframe from 20 years to 10 years.

How will the elk be captured?

State, Tribal and volunteer workers erect posts for corral wing walls.

A chartered helicopter flown by a private pilot and directed by a wildlife biologist will herd elk down the Toutle River valley toward a corral structure that has been specially built for the capture and relocation effort. Elk will be herded between two 1,000-foot-long wing walls that extend in a "V" shape from the corral.

Bull elk will not be relocated, and biologists plan to avoid drawing any bull elk into the corral structure through the use of the helicopter. Any bull elk that do enter the corral will be immobilized by a wildlife biologist using a dart gun and moved safely out of the corral.

What precautions are being taken to ensure elk safety during the capture?
While every possible precaution will be taken to ensure the safe capture of elk, some elk mortality may be unavoidable during the capture and relocation.

WDFW wildlife biologists and veterinarians will use the safest procedures available, including minimal handling of the animals and restricting the number of people at the capture site. There will be 12 to 15 trained personnel on the ground during the capture.

Experienced wildlife veterinarians will perform health checks on the animals once they are in the corral and have been given an opportunity to cool down from the capture operation. A water tanker truck from the Washington Department of Natural Resources will be onsite if animals show signs of heat stress.

Elk will be transported in horse trailers

Once the captured animals have calmed down and cooled off, they will be moved from the capture corral into a chute where WDFW veterinarians can check the vital signs of each elk. Veterinarians will also take biological samples and give animals injections of vitamins B and E, selenium and an antibiotic. Blood will be drawn from adult animals for DNA studies and to check for contagious diseases. Fecal samples will be collected from adult animals for parasites analysis. Juvenile animals will not be handled, to reduce the stress of capture.

Adult animals will be fitted with brightly colored ear tags and radio-transmitter collars. All elk will be moved to livestock trailers for transport to the Nooksack River region of the North Cascades. Straw will be placed in each of the livestock trailers for soft bedding material. Ice blocks will be placed in the trailers for additional cooling if the weather is warm on the day of the capture.

How long is the move expected to take?
The distance between the capture site and the release sites is approximately 250 miles and biologists estimate the total transport will take about six hours.

Where will the animals be released?
Elk will be released at two locations near the south fork of the Nooksack River in northern Skagit County and southern Whatcom counties, about 20 miles north of State Route 20. The sites are on land owned by the Crown Pacific timber company and are behind gates that have been locked as part of an integrated road closure management plan designed to protect the elk. WDFW enforcement officers and Crown Pacific staff will patrol the area prior to the release to ensure that no one has violated the road closure rule.

Wildlife biologists have selected release sites for their proximity to areas currently being used by existing elk populations on the south fork of the Nooksack River. Studies of the existing herd's movements show that the animals stay in forested areas and don't move into lowland agricultural areas. Biologists expect that relocated animals will adopt the existing herd's habitat usage pattern.

How will the elk be monitored after they have been relocated?
WDFW and Point Elliott treaty Indian tribes will use radio telemetry monitoring to give wildlife managers important information on the extent of the relocated animals' movements and habitat use.

WDFW staff will also train volunteers from the Bellingham and Mount Vernon chapters of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation in the use of the radio telemetry equipment so that they can assist in data collection. Relocated elk will be tracked from the ground as well as in fixed-wing aircraft.

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