Official protests after elk dies in Hanford Reach roundup

Five animals died in recent South Sound elk relocation

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Originally published Saturday, April 13, 2002

RICHLAND -- A Benton County commissioner said he will talk to fellow commissioners about legal action against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service after an elk died in a roundup at the Hanford Reach National Monument.

By late Thursday, Fish and Wildlife had captured 31 elk in two days from the fast-growing herd and planned to move them to the Spokane Indian Reservation.

Commissioner Max Benitz contended that helicopter chases of elk in the roundup are cruel. In addition, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife has written to the federal Fish and Wildlife Service, urging it to find other ways to reduce the size of the herd, primarily by hunting.

"We do not see (trapping and transporting elk) as a viable long-term tool. Trap and transplant is a short-term solution to an acute problem. We need to move beyond it to a more sustainable approach," the letter said.

Sixteen elk were trapped Wednesday and another 15 on Thursday -- 28 cows and three young bulls. The wildlife service hoped to capture a few more Friday.

In the roundup, a helicopter crew hunts for a small group of elk, then separates one from the herd. A crew member shoots a net from a shotgun, trapping the animal. Then the elk is bound -- and blindfolded to keep it calm -- before the helicopter carries it, dangling by a strap, to a corral and waiting trailers. The elk that died tripped and broke its neck when it got tangled in a net.

About 500 elk live in the 120-square-mile Fitzner-Eberhardt Arid Lands Ecology Reserve within the national monument, but they routinely wander beyond the boundaries to graze on nearby crop and ranch land.

In March, five elk died during a state Department of Fish and Wildlife relocation roundup to move elk from Grays Harbor and Mason counties to Tacoma's Green River watershed.

In early 2000, 17 elk died from stress and injuries during a roundup of the Hanford elk herd. In that roundup, helicopters chased huge herds into a big fenced passage shaped like a funnel that led to a big corral. The stampeding elk trampled each other and crashed through fences. But Greg Hughes, Fish and Wildlife manager for the national monument, said this week's tactics were changed in hopes of fewer casualties.

The roundup is a one-time effort to help the Spokane tribe restore elk to its reservation, Hughes said.

The Olympian Copyright 2002

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