Minn. DNR photo

Minnesota DNR ramping up elk planning and research

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resource is holding an in-person meeting on northwest elk management on Sept. 10 to begin work on developing a legislatively directed plan to enhance the size and range of Minnesota’s elk population and provide increased recreational opportunities while maintaining a healthy, sustainable elk population going forward.

“Elk are important to a lot of Minnesotans for many different reasons,” said Kelsie LaSharr, Minnesota DNR elk coordinator. “At this meeting, we look forward to providing an update on elk management and an upcoming research project. We also look forward to hearing  a range of perspectives about how elk are managed in northwest Minnesota.”

A 2024 amendment to existing statute requires the Minnesota DNR to work with the DNR elk working groups, private landowners, local units of government, and Minnesota tribal nations to develop a plan to enhance the size and range of Minnesota’s elk population and provide increased recreational opportunities while maintaining a healthy, sustainable elk population going forward. The legislation also allows one of the three elk herds in northwest Minnesota to grow from the 2023 population estimate of 75 elk up to a total of 98 elk to allow for genetic diversification and herd health.

The in-person meeting will be held 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 10, at Northland Community and Technical College, 1101 Highway One East, Performance Art Theater, in Thief River Falls. The meeting will begin with brief presentations on the upcoming research project and the state of northwest elk management. Invited panelists will then share their perspectives on these topics through a facilitated panel discussion. The meeting will conclude with breakout sessions for all meeting participants to ask their questions and share their views on key research and management topics.

Northwest Minnesota elk herd resiliency and research

Research biologists from the Minnesota DNR and University of Minnesota-Twin Cities will begin an in-depth elk research project in northwestern Minnesota in January 2025. The project is the beginning of a new effort that seeks to better understand Minnesota’s elk population.

The study aims to build upon the results from research on the northwestern elk herds conducted from 2016 to 2018. While the results from the prior research provided an understanding of adult female (cow) elk home range size and habitat use, current information is lacking on basic life-history characteristics, herd health and genetic composition of the herds, as well as movements of bulls, which were not included in the first study.

The Minnesota DNR has begun reaching out to private landowners in northwest elk range to seek permission to access private properties for the study. This life-history research study is led by Dr. Eric Michel, Minnesota DNR ungulate research scientist.

“Although we gained valuable information from our prior research, we now need additional data on population health, pregnancy and survival rates, more specific movement information on both bulls and cows, and insight into alternative population estimation methods,” said Dr. Eric Michel, DNR ungulate research scientist.

Project funding for the northwest elk research project comes from the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources and approved by the Minnesota Legislature. The Minnesota DNR is also providing in-kind support.

More information on elk research and management, and a sign-up for the Minnesota DNR Elk Notes quarterly email newsletter, are available on the DNR elk management webpage (mndnr.gov/elk). People can also sign up for Elk Notes newsletter at the public meeting in September.