FIELD REPORT
NATURAL HABITAT
BRINGING BUGLES BACK Elk Restoration Efforts Are Thriving in Appalachia B Y S H A N N O N M C G O WA N
IT ISN’T NECESSARY TO TRAVEL OUT
west to hear the beautifully haunting sound of an elk bugle echo through the mountains. Elk restoration efforts are taking place in certain parts of Appalachia, where abandoned mine lands are being turned back into a natural habitat for these native animals. Between 2012 and 2014, the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR) reintroduced 75 elk from the Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife Resources’ (KDFWR) population in Buchanan County, Va. This area of southwest Virginia has undergone significant mountaintop removal coal mining that resulted in the decimation of mountains, trees, and vegetation. But as devastating as these mining methods have been to the region’s landscapes, they’ve created a ratio between open land and wooded areas that is ideal for sustaining an elk population.
“By reclaiming these mine lands, we're not only benefiting elk, we're also benefiting a suite of other species.” “Elk are herbivores, so their diet primarily relies on grasses and forbs they find in open fields like these while using the forested areas to stay cool in the heat,” said Jackie Rosenberger, elk project leader for Virginia DWR. “The nice thing is that by reclaiming these mine lands, we're not only benefiting elk, we're also benefiting a suite of other species. We're basically bringing back these early successional plant communities that are great for other game species such as deer, bear, and turkey, but it’s also great for nongame species as well. We have tons of pollinators and grassland bird species that you just wouldn't see in a mostly forested landscape here in Buchanan County.” ELK ARE THRIVING IN SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA SINCE BEING REINTRODUCED A DECADE AGO. PHOTO BY S H A N N O N M C G O WA N
