The 26 elk scheduled for release this Friday into the Cataloochee area of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park were captured from Land Between The Lakes (LBL) in Kentucky.

LBL is a 170,000-acre USDA Forest Service National Recreation Area which lies between Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley in western Kentucky and Tennessee. The majority of this 60-mile long corridor is in Kentucky. It runs (north to south) from just below Grand Rivers, Ken., to just above Dover, Tenn.
LBL wildlife biologist Steve Bloemer said that LBL began its elk program in 1996 with 29 elk acquired from Elk Island National Park in Alberta, Canada. The herd had grown to more than 75 animals before the capture of the animals for the GSMNP.

The elk at LBL are contained on the 750-acre Elk & Bison Prairie. A system of cattle guards and an eight-foot tall, high-tensile, woven-wire game fence developed in New Zealand keep the elk on the prairie. Bloemer said the fence is designed to prevent the elks’ antlers from becoming entangled should a bull decide to do a little sparring. The fence is also very forgiving if animals run into it, Bloemer said.

The elk were brought to LBL with intentions of creating a free-roaming herd. However, dissenting public opinion during public hearings in 1998 has put that plan on hold for now. LBL officials and the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency are still working with the public and local farm bureaus to try and resolve differences.

While LBL was disappointed with the failed effort to start its own herd, Bloemer said that a determination was made at that time to “make elk available in the eastern United States” for other reintroduction projects.

Soon after this decision was made, Kim Delozier of GSMNP approached LBL about searching for elk stock for the Smokies. Through a joint effort between LBL and the GSMNP on Jan. 21-23, the 26 elk were captured from the prairie for the experimental release into the Smokies.

Bloemer said both entities benefitted from the project. The park was able to get the elk they wanted, and LBL was able to aid in the restoration of elk in the eastern U.S. and keep the herd on the Elk & Bison Prairie at a manageable size.

Bloemer said that the Elk & Bison Prairie at LBL is a combined species and habitat management effort. Managers began in the 1970s to use controlled burns to encourage native grasses in the prairie. Although dominated by a woodland landscape for the last 150 years, the prairie is slowly reverting to its original condition -- the way it was when bison and elk roamed it in the past.

As more and more of the area reverts to prairie, the carrying capacity for elk will rise. Right now it is about half woodland and half prairie. Biologists would like to see about a 75-25 ratio of prairie to woodland.

The herd at LBL is healthy and the reproduction rate is good, Bloemer said. He feels certain that LBL will be able to provide more elk for the Smokies’ program by 2003.

(LBL is located 90 miles north of Nashville, Tenn., along Interstate-24. To learn more about LBL and the Elk & Bison Prairie call 270.924.2000 or visit their website at www.lbl.org.)

View the elk capture gallery

 

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