The elk had been captured. Their blood had been tested. They had been collared. Practically all that was left to do was to warm up the trucks for the long drive to Alberta, Canada and back to Royal Blue Wildlife Management Area. But now it appears that those elk will not be transported to Tennessee, after all.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has thrown up a roadblock to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency's plan to bring in 140 elk from Elk Island National Park. The elk would have joined the 200 or so elk already on the ground on the Cumberland Plateau.
"The issue is the Elk Island herd does not meet the standards that have been developed by Canada for a captive herd," TWRA Chief of Wildlife Greg Wathen told TnHunting.Com Monday afternoon.
The first elk transported to Royal Blue WMA in December 2000 were Elk Island animals. Additional Elk Island elk later joined the herd at Royal Blue. In fact, since Tennessee's elk restoration project began, Elk Island has been one of only two sources — the other being Land Between the Lakes' elk herd in southwestern Kentucky — that TWRA has drawn from.
Elk releases have been on hold for the past several years due to state and federal restrictions in the midst of Chronic Wasting Disease and Mad Cow Disease concerns. The growth of the elk herd in Anderson, Campbell and Scott counties has been slowed by the lack of additional elk being brought to Tennessee. But in December, TWRA announced at a Wildlife Resources Commission meeting that it had gotten the go-ahead from the state veterinarian to bring in additional Elk Island animals.
But at the last minute, the USDA has informed TWRA that animals cannot be brought in from Elk Island.
In a letter to TWRA, the USDA stated that certain criteria must be met through mutual agreement with its Canadian counterpart, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). And, Elk Island does not meet that criteria.
"The Elk Island herd had always been considered to be a captive herd," Wathen said. "In the past, they had been brought (to Tennessee) under the stipulation that they were a captive herd."
And the reserve was still considered by the USDA to be a captive herd until January. In December, the CFIA had begun scrutinizing Elk Island and whether the reserve still met the qualifications and standards of a captive herd.
But Wathen said that TWRA considers the Elk Island animals safe.
"The information in terms of disease testing we've gotten from Elk Island indicates that the disease testing actually exceeds the standards of the CFIA," he said.
According to Bob Hodge of the Knoxville News Sentinel, the USDA put a stop to the importation of elk by applying the same rules to TWRA that would be used for commercial elk operations. Hodge's Sunday column indicated that the ruling came after objections were raised by commercial elk operations in Tennessee.
While Wathen did not rule out the possibility that a way can be found to get the Elk Island to Tennessee, he said that it would be a long shot.
"They can hold the animals they have for us for another two weeks, and then they're going to have to do something," Wathen said. Currently, Elk Island is considering releasing the animals into the wild if TWRA cannot accept them.
"We're evaluating what our options are right now," Wathen said. "We'll have either figured this thing out in a week or so, or its just not going to happen."
In the meantime, a few elk — albeit far from the 140 TWRA had planned on from Elk Island — could still be incoming to the Cumberland Plateau. Land Between the Lakes has 27 elk that can be transported by TWRA.
But the future of Tennessee's elk herd, or at least its growth, could be in jeopardy if Elk Island remains off-limits, as Tennessee does not have another major source to which it can turn for elk.
