The Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa is working with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to return elk to northeastern Minnesota.
Minnesota was once home to tens of thousands of elk, according to Mike Schrage, Wildlife Program Manager at the Band. The impressive animals ranged across the entire state, except the boreal forest in the northeast, home to woodland caribou. Elk were equally at home in hardwood forests and prairies.
The current plan is to capture 100-150 animals from the remnant herds in northwestern Minnesota over five to ten years and move them to the Fond du Lac Reservation in Carlton and southern St. Louis counties. The tribe and the state want to restore a climate-hardy, native species on or near their historical range. They hope it will provide an economic boost to the local community from wildlife tourism and additional hunting opportunities for tribal and nontribal residents.
Following ten years of research, surveys, and feasibility studies, the two agencies are holding public meetings on the idea. Monday night, February 10, tribal and state biologists met virtually with about 70 interested people, and an in-person meeting drew more than 60 three nights later.
Here is a lightly edited account of the virtual meeting.
Participants:
Mike Schrage, Wildlife Program Manager, Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
Kelsie LaSharr, elk biologist, Minnesota DNR
Makenzie Henk, Omashkoozoog Gegwegikenimaag, elk biologist, Fond du Lac Band
Thomas Howes, Natural Resources Manager, Fond du Lac Band
Chris Balzer, Cloquet Area Wildlife Supervisor, Minnesota DNR
Dave Trauba, Wildlife Supervisor, Minnesota DNR
Kaitlyn Root, Minnesota Cattlemen’s Association
Steven Dobey, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation
Kelsie LaSharr: We have been closely studying the northwestern Minnesota herds for years. We’re concerned because these herds are so small, they’re at risk of catastrophic loss. We suspect most of the mortality there is due to hunting.
The legislature has directed that those northwestern herds remain small until they stop damaging crops. These are very social animals, and in recent years some of the cows are not acting as we would expect. Normally they hang out together. Hunters are telling us they’re now in splinter groups and we’re trying to figure out why. It may be because of hunting pressure. We’re also concerned about genetic diversity in these small herds. We’re gathering data to compare the health of the Minnesota herds with that in other states and Manitoba. The Minnesota herds are very well monitored for disease, especially compared with herds in other states. We have 20 years of data on diseases, and we test all harvested animals. We have not found bovine tuberculosis or chronic wasting disease in these herds.
Elk are considered a keystone species. They produce ecological benefits where they thrive. Their grazing and browsing behaviors keep areas open, which is good for grouse, deer, and other animals. They are adaptable and can live in many habitats. We’re looking at climate warming, which is causing a lot of problems for moose, but elk can thrive in warmer weather and irregular weather cycles. An example of how elk can promote tourism comes from Pennsylvania, which has about fourteen hundred elk. Nearly a half-million visitors flock to see these elk, taking photos and listening to the fall bugling. They drop $250 million into the local economy. Eleven states have already reintroduced elk herds. In Wisconsin, the success of two restored herds now permits a hunting season.
Makenzie Henk: In 2015 we partnered with the University of Minnesota to conduct a feasibility study on restoring elk here in northeastern Minnesota. We looked at habitat suitability, human-wildlife conflict, and the degree of public support. We studied three areas, the Cloquet Valley State Forest, the Fond du Lac State Forest, and the Nemadji State Forest. We found strong support from landowners and local residents, between 75 and 82 percent supportive.
All three areas would provide good habitat; they could sustain densities of one elk per square mile, which is similar to what they’ve seen in Wisconsin and Michigan. We selected Fond du Lac because there’s a lot of public land and little likelihood of conflict with farmers. We’ve already started work to improve habitat, such as by cutting down alder brush in favor of grassland.
Kelsie: We have money to mitigate elk damage to agriculture, as is being done in northwestern Minnesota. The elk in Wisconsin are killed by wolves, that’s their primary cause of mortality, but the herd continues to grow and the hunts are successful. Of course, a hunt in Minnesota is many years away.
Question from audience: Why bring them into a forested area?
Mike Schrage: Elk do very well in forested environments, and there aren’t many prairie areas left anymore.
Tom Howes: This location is in our treaty territories. The hunting opportunity is very important for Band members.
Question: These animals are much bigger than deer, and elk-car collisions could be very damaging. Are you planning to put up fences along roads?
Kelsie: We’re not sure where these animals are going to go. It’s hard to build fences if we don’t know where they’ll be. We have the Minnesota Department of Transportation as part of our coordination team. We’re thinking about how to deal with this. Maybe we don’t plant alfalfa along roads, but we plant something elk don’t like.
Makenzie: We’re getting information from herd managers out west; we’re learning what works, probably signage, and some fencing.
Question: Do you know what the range and size of the herd will be?
Mike: The land area here is 300 square miles. The ecological carrying capacity is 289-300 elk; the social carrying capacity may be a different number. In Wisconsin, cow herds have home ranges of 10-20 square miles; bulls wander much farther but return to the cows in breeding season. We hope to hold the arriving elk in an acclimation pen; then they’ll stay closer to where they’re released. And we’re doing habitat work around the release area. Of course, a measure of success in the longer term is expanding range and numbers. Someday they may cross some of the major roads.
Chris Balzer: We’ll release them in spring, when they’re calving, and that will keep them close.
Question: Will present uses be guaranteed to continue, such as hunting, hiking, snowmobiling?
Mike: The area is already open to all uses. We’re not proposing to restrict any uses to accommodate elk.
Question: What have you learned about browse competition with deer?
Kelsie: In other states, there have not been a lot of negative interactions. Elk are more generalists than deer.
Question: How are you developing the management plan? What’s your timeline?
Mike: This is the first time the Tribe and the DNR are working together. We hope to write the plan by the end of 2025. This fall there will be time for review and public comment. This plan will last through the end of the project. Then we’ll develop a statewide plan. The soonest we can do restoration is 2026. We have to look at the western herds, how many can be moved, probably only a few at a time. It could take five or more years to move them.
Question: Minnesota has almost three times as many wolves as Wisconsin. What makes you confident that won’t be a problem?
Kelsie: We have wolves in the northwestern part of the state, and we’ve seen not a single cow elk death except by hunters.
Question: Will there be opportunities for volunteers in this project?
Chris Balzer: Absolutely. One model is Friends of Wildlife Management Areas. We’ll be asking for volunteers.
Question: Once a hunting season is opened up, how will you allocate permits to tribal and non-tribal members?
Mike: We have a model in the agreement between the state and the Bois Forte Band and the Grand Portage Band regarding harvest in the 1854 ceded territory. It was written in 1988, and it doesn’t mention elk. It needs to be updated. There’s a separate agreement between the state and the Fond du Lac Band; it was signed in 2017 and doesn’t mention elk. It needs to be updated too. We recognize the division of harvest between tribal nations and state is process we need to work on over next year or two, and going forward into the future.
Question: Is logging used for elk habitat?
Chris Balzer: Logging is probably the biggest tool to improve elk habitat. The elk will use power lines, and we will also do prescribed burns.
Tom Howes: The rate of logging is tied to the reproductive rate: the more young aspen there is, the bigger the herd will grow. This is a benefit of elk on the landscape: putting more loggers to work.
Mike: The Enbridge pipeline is being revegetated, and we at Fond du Lac told them to seed with a grass-forb mix that benefits deer, turkey, pollinators, and elk. We gave them just the right seed mix.
Question: With climate change, will the far north Arrowhead become a better habitat for elk, and are they likely to compete with moose?
Mike: I’m not an expert on climate change, but we’re told it’ll be warmer and drier. Elk can tolerate warmer, and drier favors grass over trees, and elk do well on grass. I’m pretty confident the elk will cope with climate change. They live from Arkansas to Alaka and North Carolina to California.
Dave Trauba: We can expect more weather extremes. They’ll need to migrate across landscapes. In the Arrowhead, we’re very much committed to moose. We got money from the American the Beautiful Act to do collaborative work on moose habitat. The Ruffed Grouse Society is working on it too, and tribal partners.
Question: How will the compensation for damage work? We’re on a waiting list for wolf depredation, and it doesn’t help much to be on a waiting list.
Kelsie: We’re looking for collaborative solutions. We need to work with you to find out what we can do proactively. We might use, for example, temporary fencing to protect stored forage.
Mike: We want to give producers tools ahead of time to head off problems before they happen.
Kaitlyn Root, Minnesota Cattlemen’s Association: Our main concern is elk depredation: it’s skyrocketing in the northwest. The programs are not working and there’s not enough funding. We’re very concerned about what’ll happen when elk are moved to the northeastern part of the state. We should deal with the problem in the northwest before we move elk here. Can we plant food plots on public land to keep elk away from private lands, for example?
Kelsie: We do that in the northwest, but public land is usually not good farming land, so it’s hard to attract them. We do nonlethal hazing for crop damage, but there hasn’t been a lot of interest in the northwest for the equipment we offer.
Dave Trauba: It’s hard to get funding for depredation programs but there’s a lot of support here; we might get more funding, and we might get ideas from other states.
Question: How much influence do each of the partners have in this project?
Makenzie: This is a hugely collaborative effort. We have subcommittees on disease monitoring, human-elk conflict, habitat management, and each of those committees has a representative from the DNR, the 1854 Treaty Authority, and so on.
Mike: This project has its genesis 11 years ago now. Fond du Lac and the DNR have been working together on it officially and unofficially, really since day one. We had help from the DNR to get our feasibility studies underway, and reviewing our proposal. We’ve got a strong network of advisors.
Question: How will you measure success or failure?
Kelsie: We’re defining it as we write the plan. Currently we plan on 100-150 animals, but we could change our minds. Michigan is successful with only 7 original imports.
Mike: It may take a generation or two, but my idea of success is growing numbers, expanding range, general acceptance, and other areas in northern Minnesota copying us.
Dave Trauba: This group has done their homework; the only failure would be not going forward with the project.
Question: What is your funding?
Mike: Building toward 150 elk, we project it will take $7 million to get there. Currently we have $2.3 million appropriated from the state to work on it; some of that came to Fond du Lac, some to the DNR. Fond du Lac has $440,000 from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative to put toward the elk project. We predict we’ll get additional resources from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. Public dollars are certainly going to be a significant source of funding as this goes forward.
Kelsie: Once the animals are moved and we’re into a management phase, there’s not a lot of investment needed. We do an aerial survey yearly, and research projects are funded by the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund. Once they’re established, this is part of our normal workload. Part of our original $2.3 million is for proactive measures to reduce depredation.
Question: What diseases are elk subject to?
Kelsie: Parelaphostrongylus tenuis (brainworm), liver flukes and gastropods are big concerns for moose and we’ve seen them in the western elk herds. Elk are not as sensitive as moose, they’re a little hardier when it comes to these parasites.
Mike: Michigan does lose some elk to brainworm but it doesn’t seem to be as bad as the way it is with moose herds in Minnesota.
Question: Have you done elk-moose cohabitation studies?
Mike: In almost all moose range in the Rocky Mountains, moose and elk cohabit.
Question: Why do we want Minnesota elk rather than elk from other states? Are there CWD travel restrictions? Would it be cheaper from other states?
Kelsie: Other states have diseases we don’t want in Minnesota. Western elk can be exposed to brucellosis and bovine tuberculosis. We don’t want those. Our northwestern elk don’t have those, and they don’t have CWD. We know they’re healthy because we have a greater proportion of our northwest herd tested than other states’ herds.
Question: Are there other locations interested in establishing elk herds?
Kelsie: No one else has put together a formal proposal, but we’ve heard whisperings of other interested groups. We need this to be a success and then it will open up opportunities elsewhere in the state.
Concluding comments
Steven Dobey, Rocky Mtn Elk Foundation. I commend the DNR and Fond du Lac for the time and resources they’ve committed to this meeting and to the entire planning process. You have a fantastic amount of energy and excitement, and the collaboration is wonderful.
Tom Howes: Growing up here at Fond du Lac, this kind of collaboration didn’t exist. Elk belongs on the landscape here; it’s a relative and it’s something we should be proud to be able to restore. It’s an opportunity to do some really powerful things. I look forward to seeing how this works out.
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