Elk to Black River State Forest?

DNR meetings on Wisconsin’s elk population continue Thursday night in Black River Falls.

The state’s elk herds are currently in northern Wisconsin, near Clam Lake and Butternut. But some groups are reviving the idea of bringing more elk in from elsewhere and establishing a new herd in the 68,000 acre Black River State Forest. DNR big game Ecologist Kevin Wallenfang says there are a lot of “ifs” before the plan can become a reality, “There are a lot of things that have to happen.”

Wallenfang says there may be genetic problems that would prevent any elk from Clam Lake being moved to the Black River Falls area. So Wisconsin lawmakers would have to pass a measure pertaining to animal disease testing, before elk could be brought from another state. He says don’t look for elk, or listen for an elk bugle in western Wisconsin until at least 2014.