The reintroduction of the elk to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park started with casual, wistful, conversations between people who love all wildlife but especially loved the elk, and GSMNP Wildlife Biologist Kim DeLozier, who had been involved with a couple of reintroduction projects and was familiar with all the steps involved in re-introducing an animal in an area where it had been extinct for decades. Several people were involved with evaluating the feasibility of the elk reintroduction project for a few years before it was approved by the Park and the State of North Carolina. It was determined that the elk could be self-sustaining and should be released for a five-year trial period in the Cataloochee Valley area of the GSMNP which is about 8 miles as the crow flies from Cherokee but about 50 miles by highway.

 

Finally, after years of planning, physical work, and fund-raising, the first load of 25 elk arrived from Land Between the Lakes in Kentucky and experienced a “soft release” into a 3-acre pen in the upper end of Cataloochee Valley on February 1, 2001. A second soft release occurred in 2002 of 27 elk from Elk Island National Park, Alberta, Canada. The number of elk now roaming the lands in Western North Carolina daily varies but estimates put the current number of elk to be 250 – 300. In the 25 years since the 52 elk were released in the Cataloochee Valley in 2001 and 2002, the herds have continued to grow and spread throughout the Great Smoky Mountains Park, the Qualla Boundary, and adjacent counties of Haywood, Jackson and Swain in Western North Carolina.

 

Kim DeLozier, Joe Yarkovich, and other biologists were originally tasked to document and evaluate the successes, problems, etc. of the experiment for five years. They tracked the elk with radio collars, some of which had computer technology, to see their roaming habits, checked vegetation monitoring sites to see what foods they preferred, recorded and tested, including blood-work for health reasons, survival rates, effects on the environment, etc. That time frame was increased to eight years with the final report stating the population growth was stable and a success. It was officially declared a “reintroduction” which made

a lot of people very happy.

 

A major project launched by The Conservation Fund to acquire private lands near Maggie Valley, NC for elk habitat and range reached a milestone conclusion in 2018. A total of nine properties adjacent to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park were acquired with funding by eight agencies. On August 21, 2018 The Conservation Fund announced that over 2,000 acres were acquired and would become a public wildlife area established to protect elk habitat and would be designated as the William H. Silver Game Land. The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission would be in charge of the property for conservation, wildlife viewing, hiking, hunting, and fishing. It would also protect water quality for nearby communities.