| Abstract |
Wildlife biologists documented an isolated elk population in 1972 on the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Hanford Site. Since then the herd has grown, exceeding 800 animals in 1999. Limited harvests on adjacent private lands have occurred since 1986. The large herd size coupled with limited annual harvest have increased concerns about private land crop damages, vehicle collisions, degradation of the native environment, and the herd's use of radiologically controlled areas on the Hanford Site. As a result, in 1999, a decision was made by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) (animal management), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) (land management), and DOE (landowner) to conduct a large-scale animal roundup to remove elk from the DOE-owned lands and relocate them to distant areas within Washington State. The interagency roundup and relocation occurred in spring 2000. This report presents the current status of the herd size and composition, annual removal estimates, and some limited seasonal area-use patterns by several radio-collared elk subsequent to the large-scale elk roundup. The elk herd maintained an approximate 25% annual increase until 2000. A large harvest offsite in 1999 coupled with the large-scale roundup in spring 2000 reduced herd size to the current estimate of 660 animals. As of August 2000, the herd consisted of 287 (43%) males, 282 (42%) females, and 91 (13%) calves. There has been a notable cycling of calf recruitment rates throughout the 1990s and in 2000. Elk home-range estimates revealed a substantial decrease in summer home ranges in 2000, presumably, in part, as a result of the summer 2000 Hanford Site wildfire. Movement analysis also determined that, as population size increased, so has the frequency and extent of the animals' offsite movements, particularly on private lands adjacent to the Hanford Site in both spring and summer seasons. The frequency and duration of movements by male elk onto the central portions of the Hanford Site has increased substantially as the population increased. |
