Elk NetworkEastern Elk Initiative

Conservation | June 14, 2017

On foggy mornings when the chill of fall is in the air, distant elk bugles ring sparsely through the hills and valleys of the East. Each one tells the tale of one of North American wildlife’s greatest recovery stories, and RMEF is working hard to help their sound resonate across lands from the Appalachians to the Ozarks. The Eastern U.S. provides many opportunities to reintroduce the native elk to their historic range, a goal the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation has been working toward since 1990. View Map

When Europeans came to North America, as many as 10 million elk roamed the U.S. Their numbers proved a plentiful resource that explorers, trappers and settlers depended on for survival. But left unmanaged, unregulated hunting and loss of habitat eventually became too great and elk herds east of the Mississippi disappeared by the late 1800s.

Since then, efforts by hunter-conservationists and state wildlife agencies have restored elk populations across the nation. RMEF believes that making elk restoration programs a priority in the Eastern U.S. will ensure a future where residents and visitors will have the opportunity to wake up to the bugle and listen as the story of triumph continues.