8-27-12
State wildlife officials are dusting off an old plan to bring more elk to Wisconsin.
The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point introduced 25 elk to the Clam Lake area in far northwestern Wisconsin in 1995. The DNR has wanted to expand that herd and start another herd in Jackson County ever since.
The department shelved the effort, though, after chronic wasting disease was discovered in the state in 2002 and state agriculture officials effectively banned wild deer and elk importation.
Now DNR officials say they've identified a disease-free elk herd in Kentucky and are negotiating with wildlife officials there to bring some of the animals to bolster the northern herd and start the Jackson County herd.
The move requires legislation to lift the importation ban.
