When it comes to the restoration or reintroduction of wild species into areas where they once existed — before man over-harvested them or put up a parking lot in their habitat — the well-intentioned projects have borne mixed results.
Massachusetts, I have been told, is looking to reintroduce Timber rattlesnakes to the Quabbin Reservoir, which is proving controversial. Maine tried twice — once in 1963 and thirty years later, in 1986-1990 — to restore Woodland Caribou to the North Woods. Both projects failed. Predators, bears and coyotes mostly, and brain worm made short work of the new Maine inhabitants.
Without question, the reintroduction of North American elk into nine states east of the Rockies through the collaboration of these states and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, is the biggest wildlife conservation and restoration success story of modern times. In fact, to my mind, it is an accomplishment in the annals of wildlife conservation that makes all others pale in comparison. With the monetary and technical assistance from the RMEF, Kentucky, Kansas, Nebraska, North Carolina, Michigan, Missouri, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin have all initiated programs to transplant elk into lands where they once roamed many years ago. Unlike the ill-fated Maine caribou transplant program, these programs are working. The elk are surviving and, in a number of cases, thriving.
Obviously, it takes money to undertake these animal restoration projects. RMEF, which boasts a large membership, including its share of affluent, conservation-minded benefactors, has underwritten habitat acquisition, feasibility studies and logistical support to these states that amounts to millions of dollars.
For example, over a six-year period, Kentucky, where elk were common when Daniel Boone helped carve out the New Frontier beyond the Cumberland Gap, brought in 1,549 elk. According to RMEF’s elk biologist, Tom Toman, “RMEF spent about $1.4 million dollars toward that project including trapping, disease testing, transporting and monitoring the first five years, along with some other studies and habitat work.”
It is interesting that in Maine’s caribou transplant experiment, the Woodland Caribou brought here from Newfoundland were held in holding pens at the University of Maine for a number of years before their release. In Kentucky, the elk were ‘hard-released.” This means that the elk were off-loaded from the truck and were immediately free ranging in Kentucky’s woodlands.
Even more curious is that early elk restoration in these states in the early 1900s was not successful. Toman says that brain worm, which elk and caribou (and moose) contract from whitetail deer, was the death knell for these early elk restoration programs. Brain worm was part of the cause of Maine’s failed caribou experiment as well. Toman points out that some of the recently reintroduced elk have contracted brain worm from Eastern deer. However, for some reason a smaller percentage of the animals seem to be as affected by the parasite. There is also some evidence that Maine’s moose populations are less susceptible to brain worm today than they once were.
The question persists: Should Maine consider a third try at caribou restoration? Next week, we’ll examine this question. Meantime, if you want to join a winning team, consider a membership in the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. RMEF has a website and a wonderful magazine, Bugle. You don’t have to hunt elk to support their historic wildlife conservation work.
The author is editor of the Northwoods Sporting Journal. He is also a Maine Guide and host of a weekly radio program “Maine Outdoors” heard Sundays at 7 p.m. on The Voice of Maine News-Talk Network. He has authored three books. Online purchase information is available at www.maineoutdoorpublications.com.
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