Elk lottery + study to expand the range of Elk in Mn

[h2ofwlr]

MN DNR:
Apply now to hunt elk in Minnesota

Hunters have until Friday, June 17, to apply for one of seven elk licenses offered this year by the DNR. The 2016 elk season runs from Saturday, Sept. 10, to Sunday, Sept. 18.

Apply at any DNR license agent, the DNR License Center at 500 Lafayette Road in St. Paul, online or by telephone at 888-665-4236. Hunters may apply individually or in parties of two. There is a nonrefundable application fee of $4 per hunter. License cost is $287.

In addition to managing elk populations through hunting, the DNR continues to track 20 adult female elk that were outfitted with tracking collars in early 2016 for a research project that will enhance knowledge of elk and inform elk management in the future.

More information on elk can be found on the DNR website, including information on hunting and about elk research, history and management.

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Can elk thrive in more of Minnesota? A new study hopes to find out

June 2, 2016 By Melissa Turtinen, BMTN
Links: http://bringmethenews.com/2016/06/02/ne ... minnesota/

Elk haven’t lived in northeastern Minnesota since the early 1900s, but now there’s an effort to see if the animal can be successfully reintroduced to the area.

Gov. Mark Dayton signed a bill into law that will use $300,000 from the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund to help pay for research to determine if it’s possible for elk to thrive in east-central and northeastern Minnesota (southern St. Louis County, Carlton County and northern Pine County).

The research, which will be conducted by the University of Minnesota, will also measure if there’s enough public support to restore the elk population. (Support for elk in the area is key to a successful elk restoration, the proposal for funding says.)

This is the first significant plan to reintroduce elk to east-central and northeastern Minnesota, the Duluth News Tribune reports.

The proposal says introducing elk to northeastern Minnesota would help restore the state’s traditional wildlife heritage, diversify the large animal community, increase tourism from wildlife viewers, and eventually provide more opportunities to hunt elk.

The study is also being funded by The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. The Fond du Lac Band initially began exploring how to restore elk in the region.
Elk in Minnesota

Elk used to live all over Minnesota, but by the early 1900s, nearly all of them had disappeared from the state due to excessive hunting, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources says.

The animal was eventually reintroduced into Itasca State Park in 1914 and 1915, and then in 1935, 27 elk were released in northwest Beltrami County, where they have since established a breeding population, the DNR says. Since then, a second herd has established itself in Kittson and Roseau counties, near the Canadian border (officials think they wandered in there from Canada).

There are about 100 wild elk in Minnesota, the Duluth News Tribune says.

The DNR has a management plan to help control the elk population in northwestern Minnesota, where they’re “managed at low levels to reduce human-wildlife conflict,” the proposal notes.

Conflicts arise when the 500 to 700-pound animal causes crop and fence damage, which is why the DNR works to find a balance between farmers and the public’s support of having more elk in Minnesota.

But reintroducing elk in northeastern Minnesota, where there is more forested land, could help avoid such conflicts, the proposal says.

Timeline of the study

Researchers hope to finish the study by June 2019, the proposal says.

This winter, they’ll start surveying the attitudes of people in the area to see if they support elk being reintroduced there, Mike Schrage, wildlife biologist for the Fond du Lac Band, said in an update after Dayton signed the bill. The habitat study will begin in 2017.

Researchers will map out both public support and habitat suitability to “identify areas most likely to support a successful restoration,” the proposal says. (For in-depth details on how the research will be done, click here.)

If the study finds restoration could be successful, the next steps in the process to bring elk back to the area can be taken, the proposal says.

The Duluth News Tribune says the Fond du Lac Band hopes to transplant 200-300 elk from other states onto public lands in the area. The effort could take up to 10 years and cost roughly $3-5 million when finished, Schrage told BringMeTheNews.

The research will also lay a framework for other areas of Minnesota where people may be interested in reintroducing elk, the proposal adds.