Coming Home

Through reintroduction efforts, residents and tourists can now see elk roaming freely in West Virginia

This story was originally published in the August 2022 issue of Wonderful West Virginia. To subscribe, visit wonderfulwv.com

Written by Wendy Holdren

Photography Courtesy of West Virginia Division of Commerce

While some folks flock to the Mountain State to see the breathtaking foliage in the fall months, others travel to southern West Virginia in hopes of another special sighting. Each year, dozens of tourists and state residents alike travel to Chief Logan State Park to participate in the annual Elk Management Tours for a chance to see the massive mammals in the wild.

Elk are one of the largest species within the deer family as well as one of the largest terrestrial mammals in North America. After an absence of over 140 years from West Virginia, a reintroduction plan from the Division of Natural Resources has helped elk make a comeback in the state. Every September and October, elk enter the rut, which is their breeding period. Limited tours only take place during these months with advanced reservations, as it’s one of their most active times of the year. Temperatures are also more moderate during autumn in West Virginia, making for a more comfortable experience for tour participants.

“The Tomblin Wildlife Management Area isn’t the only place elk are,” says Lauren Cole, Park Naturalist at Chief Logan, who leads the elk tours. “But it’s probably the area you’re most likely to see them.” The creatures are most active at dawn and dusk, she says, prompting 5:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. departure times for the 15-passenger van from the Chief Logan lodge.

“This isn’t a Disney cruise,” Cole warns. “Expect the entire program to last about four hours, with a roughly 3-mile hike. It’s off-road, and it’s quite a bit of walking. This isn’t a sit-in-the-bus-and-look tour—it’s a hike. We take our time, but you need to be prepared for a good old-fashioned hike.”

It’s all about wildlife watching, she says. Most people take their own binoculars, but she takes six additional pairs as well as a spotting scope for guests to use. She encourages everyone in attendance to wear closed-toe shoes and pants, no matter the forecast. Walking sticks can also be of use. “Sometimes it’s muddy. There are a lot of tall grasses and different plants.

After about a 15-minute drive from the lodge, the tour van arrives at the 25,000-acre property, which straddles Logan and Mingo counties. Throughout the wildlife management area, tour members may also see deer, turkey, coyote, bears, harrier hawks, bitterns, and eagles. Folks on the tour always enjoy hearing bugling, Cole says, which is the mating call of the male elk, used to establish territory and to signal to area females that they’re powerful and virile. “It’s an interesting sound,” she says. “It’s almost haunting to hear. It’s like a grunt and it ends on a whistle. It’s a very unique sort of sound, and people really want to hear it.”

From Far and Wide

Tour guests have come from all over the country. Oftentimes, Cole says, attendees are originally from West Virginia and come back to do the tour with their families. The tour draws folks from across the state as well.

In addition to wildlife viewing, Cole offers the history of elk in the state and the importance of wildlife management. Tour participants receive breakfast or an afternoon snack, depending on their tour time, as well as a commemorative coin. Many folks who choose the morning tour book rooms at the lodge, Cole says. Tours are typically scheduled for Thursday evenings as well as Saturday and Sunday mornings and evenings. Folks interested in the tour can purchase their tickets at chiefloganstatepark.com.

While Cole can’t guarantee there will be an elk sighting during the tour, she says she’s only led one tour in which a sighting didn’t happen. She encourages those who are interested to book the affordable experience to enjoy the beautiful property, to learn more about the history of the elk, and to support southern West Virginia.

“What was once a mountaintop removal site has been turned into a really valuable wildlife management area,” she says. “West Virginia has lost meadows since European colonization. We’re fully occupying areas where the floodplain would be. In nature, that’s one of the areas where tree growth gets cleared out, which leaves an area for grasses and species like the monarch butterfly. Essentially, mountaintop removal sites are now being turned into meadows. It’s a really good program. People overwhelmingly seem to have a good time on the tour. And it’s great for coal country.”

Reintroducing the Elk

Once native to the Mountain State, elk disappeared from West Virginia in the late 1800s due to timbering and subsistence and market hunting. “The last known elk in West Virginia was in 1875,” says Randy Kelley, Elk Project Leader with the DNR. “Elk reintroduction was discussed at various times throughout the years.” A private hunting club once brought in 50 elk from the West, but that project failed, he says. Another effort was made in the 1970s. Kelley says the best habitat for the elk at that time was in the Ohio, Greenbrier, and Potomac river valleys. Because of conflicting agricultural endeavors and numerous highways, the project was scrapped for the time being. But when the neighboring state of Kentucky had a successful reintroduction of the species in the late 1990s—roughly 1,500 elk were released in the eastern Kentucky coalfields over the course of four or five years—the DNR saw a model it might be able to replicate.

The agency conducted a habitat and social acceptance feasibility study with the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation in 2005 to determine whether any habitat in West Virginia would sustain the elk and whether residents would support the reintroduction. The study yielded similar results with regard to habitat as in the ’70s—with one important addition.

Mountaintop removal mining had created new habitat that was favorable for elk, according to Kelley. “They’re more grazers. Deer are more browsers. Elk want grass and open ranges.” Like the previous habitat study, the new study pointed to the Ohio, Greenbrier, and Potomac river valleys, he says, but it also found good habitat in West Virginia’s southeastern coalfields, on former mountaintop removal sites.

The social acceptance feasibility study found that West Virginians throughout the state overwhelmingly wanted the species to return. Folks in the river valleys, however, said that, while they wanted the elk to return, they were concerned about their agricultural areas. Deer already posed a threat, so they were fearful about the crop damage threatened by an animal four times the size of a deer. Southern West Virginians expressed no similar concerns and saw an opportunity for something positive atop the former mine sites.

The potential Elk Management Zone consisted of Logan, Mingo, McDowell, Wyoming, southern Lincoln, southern Wayne, and western Boone counties. But around this time, the DNR had to focus its efforts on chronic wasting disease found in the deer herd in the Eastern Panhandle. A passive plan was therefore put in place to protect and manage any elk which may have wandered in from Kentucky.

“When Earl Ray Tomblin became governor, he saw many states capitalizing on the economic impact of elk through tourism,” Kelley says. “There were 400,000 people coming per year to the Elk Visitor Center in Pennsylvania.” With the support of Governor Tomblin, the West Virginia Legislature authorized the WV DNR to proceed in 2015 with an active elk restoration plan. The next step in the process was two-fold—getting land, then getting elk.

To support the future population, more than 44,000 acres were secured for public access, including the creation of the 25,000-acre Tomblin Wildlife Management Area—the first elk release site. The Virginia Chapter of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation donated a soft release pen, which would allow the DNR to bring the elk to the area, retain the animals for a calming period, then release them gradually into the wild.

Land Between the Lakes in western Kentucky supported West Virginia’s effort by donating 24 elk. Their release on December 24, 2016, marked the first return of the species to the state in over 140 years. More elk were brought to the state in 2018—an additional 15 from Land Between the Lakes, and another 52 from an agreement with Arizona officials. The latter endeavor consisted of a 36-hour cross country haul from Arizona with the elk in an 18-wheeler.

Unfortunately, in 2019, several of the elk from Arizona were exposed to brain worms from white-tailed deer. While the parasite doesn’t kill deer, it can kill elk. Kelley says there is no cure for the condition, but, if an animal is shown to have symptoms, the DNR can give the animal high doses of dewormer, vitamins, and high-protein feed to promote the best chance of survival. Some of the elk did succumb to brain worm that year, but Kelley says, through natural reproduction, new calves are being born every year.

“We’re growing back slowly. Elk can have one calf per year, and they don’t start producing until they’re at least 2 years old. Last summer alone, there were between 15 and 20 calves added. We’re back to where we should have been.”

A Successful Start

West Virginia is now home to roughly 100 elk, Kelley says. All released elk were marked and equipped with GPS telemetry collars, so their movements can be tracked via satellite in real time. Also, efforts are made each year to capture, mark, and collar calves from the previous summer as well. The population looks healthy, Kelley says, and West Virginia University assists with studying the elk population. “We’re doing constant habitat work with controlled burning and aerial spraying of invasive species to try to keep the habitat in the state beneficial to elk,” Kelley says. “Local coal companies have also been very cooperative in seeding grasses on their mining sites to help benefit the elk.”

The program is very robust at this point, in Kelley’s view, with hopes to move additional elk into the state in the future via Kentucky or via partners in the West if they become available. No matter the future of the population, Kelley says, the program has been beneficial to the DNR and to southern West Virginia, as thousands of acres were secured for wildlife management, which includes public hunting.

To help support elk in West Virginia, Kelley encourages residents to become members of their local conservation clubs or other organizations like the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation that support local wildlife. He also encourages residents to buy hunting or fishing licenses to enjoy all that is wild and wonderful in West Virginia.