Proposed Black River Falls Elk Herd

Considerable public interest and adequate habitat within Jackson County has driven the Department to consider release of a second elk herd. Following the successful reintroduction of elk to the Clam Lake area, an interested and dedicated group of sportsmen known as the Jackson County Wildlife Fund (JCWF) proposed the concept of reintroduction of elk to eastern Jackson County. The Jackson County board adopted a resolution in support of the reintroduction of elk to public lands in eastern Jackson County. The JCWF forwarded their proposal to the Wisconsin DNR. The Wisconsin DNR, after determining that historical and adequate elk habitat existed in the Black River area, conducted public meetings in March of 1999 and September of 2000 to determine if public support existed on a community level. The three meetings held in September of 2000 showed support among the public.

In December of 2001, the Natural Resources Board (NRB) approved the Black River Falls Elk Herd Management Plan. However, with the discovery of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in Wisconsin’s wild whitetail deer herd in 2002, all movement of cervids across state borders was halted. The efforts and resources of the Department were focused on identifying the extent to which CWD was present in the state, protecting and maintaining the health of the wildlife populations already established, and containing and eliminating the disease. Since relocating cervids and inflating cervid densities in an area can increase the potential for disease transmission, plans to reintroduce elk to the Black River Falls area were postponed.

• Proposed Black River Falls Elk Management Plan (PDF, 342KB)
• View the Elk Range for the proposed Black River Elk Herd

Questions for Wildlife Management