Elk meeting set for late August

Monday, July 31, 2006

Peninsula News Network

Sequim, WA - Managers who are wrestling with the future of the Sequim elk herd are bracing themselves for a meeting to discuss their idea of relocating the big animals… a meeting that is now less than a month away.

And they know that while the relocation plan may look good on paper, the question is how will the public react to that preferred option.

The Dungeness Elk Working Team has been meeting in recent weeks to try and pin down a plan that will limit the growing conflict between the elk and the East End’s increasing population. It’s a conflict that has seen increased crop damage on some local farms, as the elk has just about given up any semblance of migration, staying in the fields east of the city.

The herd managers, which include the State Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, have looked at several options, ranging from leaving the elk where they are, to shooting them to reduce herd size, or moving them out of the Sequim area.

Re-location has emerged as the preferred option, with the recent addition of moving Sequim’s elk to the far side of the Olympics, in the Wynochee Valley instead of just into the Snow Creek drainage in Jefferson County.

But members of the team are admitting he relocation plan probably won’t meet with universal public acceptance, especially from people who want the elk to stay one of the East End’s “attractions”.

The meeting to discuss the proposal has been set for August 29th at Carrie Blake Park.