A little more uplifting news: At Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the elk restoration program has gone so well park officials have taken off the "experimental" tag and developed a long-range management plan.
For the past decade, Great Smoky Mountains National Park biologists and staff worked to restore a permanent elk herd to the park's rumpled mountains. So successful were those efforts that they've removed the "experimental" tag from the herd and adopted a long-range management plan for the elk.
The management plan was signed off on by David Vela, the park's regional director, on October 20.
see link:
http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com...ement-plan8946
In June 2010, the park published an environmental assessment outlining the findings of an 8-year experimental elk release (2001-2008). The purpose of the EA was to determine the most appropriate and feasible approach to manage the existing elk population, currently totaling around 140 animals.
For the past decade, Great Smoky Mountains National Park biologists and staff worked to restore a permanent elk herd to the park's rumpled mountains. So successful were those efforts that they've removed the "experimental" tag from the herd and adopted a long-range management plan for the elk.
The management plan was signed off on by David Vela, the park's regional director, on October 20.
see link:
http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com...ement-plan8946
In June 2010, the park published an environmental assessment outlining the findings of an 8-year experimental elk release (2001-2008). The purpose of the EA was to determine the most appropriate and feasible approach to manage the existing elk population, currently totaling around 140 animals.
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