Stephen McDaniel St Augustine
Fifty Elk in a Quarantine Pen in Logan County Stephen McDaniel of St. Augustine, Florida on West Virginia's elk restoration
Waiting on federal testing In March 2018, fifty elk from Arizona went into a five-acre pen in southern West Virginia and waited. Federal disease testing takes time. The animals stayed put until May. Stephen McDaniel was Director of the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources for that delivery.
Two sources, two states
35
50
60 to 70
elk from Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area in western Kentucky
elk from Arizona
additional elk brought in over his tenure
Genetic diversity matters in a founding population, and so does not putting every animal on the same truck.
Restoration is mostly paperwork •
Veterinary protocols and quarantine compliance
•
Interstate transport permits
•
Habitat preparation on reclaimed mine land
•
Partnership agreements with the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and The Conservation Fund
•
The release itself takes about 90 seconds
Native animals, reclaimed land Native
Reclaimed mines
Partners
Elk were hunted out of West Virginia in the 1800s. This is a return, not an experiment.
Open grassland with forest edge, close to ideal elk habitat in a state that is almost entirely trees.
The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and The Conservation Fund. Neither is a state agency.
The tours sold out
20
227
9
19 of 20
guided viewing tours in one fall season
people took part
states they came from
tours saw elk
The tours ran between September 19 and October 20 and sold out within days, averaging four or five animals per outing.
The limiting factor “To bring in more visitors, though, we need a bigger van.”
Stephen McDaniel Going from twelve seats to 24 would cost north of $100,000. That is the kind of detail that decides whether a program scales.
What southern West Virginia got •
Logan County has seen coal employment fall for two generations
•
An elk herd on reclaimed mine land drew visitors from nine states
•
It is an economic argument as much as an ecological one
•
McDaniel left the agency in January 2022, and the herd is still there
Key takeaways •
Restoration is mostly permits, protocols, and partnerships
•
Two source herds protect the founding population
•
Reclaimed mine land can become elk habitat
•
Small constraints, like a twelve-seat van, decide whether a program grows
About Stephen McDaniel Stephen McDaniel of St. Augustine, Florida is a business owner and former Director of the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, a post he held from February 2017 to January 2022. He is sole proprietor of Mozark Mountain Tree Farm in Tucker County and co-owner of Readybox of WV, a portable storage container company serving most of North Central West Virginia.
Stephen McDaniel St Augustine