Justin McVey, NCWRCVirtual Lunch & Learn: Elk Habitat Management with Wildlife Biologist Justin McVey
Wednesday, November 20 at 12:00 pm EST
Join NC Wildlife Resources Commission‘s Wildlife Biologist Justin McVey and SAHC’s Stewardship Director Sarah Sheeran for a virtual Lunch & Learn about Elk, their habitat, and ongoing research and management at SAHC’s Stevens Creek Preserve adjoining Great Smoky Mountains National Park. In 2001, 52 Rocky Mountain Elk were released into Cataloochee Valley as part of an experimental program to reintroduce elk to the park. Native elk had been eliminated from the region by over-hunting and loss of habitat. A 2022 DNA study estimated there are now approximately 240 elk in Western North Carolina.
In 2023, SAHC’s partners at NC Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) received grant funding to improve elk habitat on SAHC-owned land on the edge of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. SAHC’s 147-acre Stevens Creek Preserve, located at the northern end of Cataloochee Ridge in Haywood County, was purchased in 2017 to protect habitat for elk, turkey, deer and other wildlife, to protect water resources, and to provide a buffer on the edge of the national park.
“We had noticed a few elk using the Stevens Creek tract, mostly bachelors,” said Justin McVey, District Biologist with NCWRC. “However, more elk which have been living just over the ridge since the release have not used the tract. We were curious – ‘why not?’ We wondered if the open areas on SAHC’s tract were converted to native grasses and plants, would more female and young elk come onto that property? It’s so beautiful, just a gorgeous little valley, and we’d love to see more elk using that space. The elk population is slowly growing, and we have high hopes that if we continue to create quality habitat we will increase the number of elk.”
With that in mind, NCWRC applied for a grant from Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation to support removing non-native plants in favor of native vegetation on SAHC’s property at Stevens Creek. In conjunction with the grant for habitat management, they secured funds to put radio collars on elk to track their movements and see if more elk use SAHC’s property. Read more about the project at – appalachian.org/elk-habitat-management-at-stevens-creek.
Click here to read more about the 147-acre Stevens Creek Preserve protected in 2017, and here to read more about the nearby 13-acres protected in 2021.
Biologist Justin McVey conducting Elk research.
