Encouraging elk to return

Wolf Trap.
Buffalo Springs.
Elk Hill.
Virginia place names are testaments to wildlife long since driven away, hunted to extinction in our part of the East.
But now comes an opportunity to bring back one of these species, and through no real effort of our own.
Elk are moving back into Virginia, expanding their habitat from neighboring Kentucky.
Twelve years ago, Kentucky launched an effort to re-establish the species in that state’s Appalachian region. About 1,500 elk eventually were introduced, and their numbers have now climbed to 10,000 or more. This is the largest concentration of elk east of the Mississippi, and Kentucky considers them a tourist draw for hunters, hikers and photographers.
Some of those elk have long since wandered over into Southwest Vir-ginia.
Virginia hunters kill two or three elk a year; meanwhile, however, the state has no management plan for this reviving species.
That may soon change. The board of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries’ is considering a hunting ban in order to ensure that the Virginia herd grows to sustainable levels. Then this state also can market itself as a destination for those who want to hunt, or simply view, wild elk.
It’s an excellent idea.
Virginia need do nothing but let nature take its course. Little real action is required, only the decision to prevent hunters from taking action against elk — plus the effort to enforce that decision.
In the far corner of Southwest Vir-ginia, a lucky few humans can now occasionally hear the bugle of a bull elk. Let’s encourage the elk by discouraging — for now — the hunt.