Thanks to elk reintroduction efforts in West Virginia, more than 44,000 acres of what was once private mining land is now open to the public.
“I would characterize it as the single most significant land acquisition the DNR has ever been involved in,” Paul Johansen, West Virginia Division of Natural Resources wildlife chief, told the Charleston Gazette-Mail. “It provides a place for the citizens of West Virginia to see and enjoy elk on the landscape, and to hunt for elk, deer, bears, turkeys and other animals.”
The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation was one of several partners that donated funds in purchasing the landscape which is now home to more than two dozen elk. And that number will grow with the 2017 calving season.
(Photo source: John McCoy/WV Gazette)