The winter of 1999-2000 has turned out to be another favorable one for the Clam Lake Herd, with below average snowpack and mild temperatures. The elk appear to have wintered well, with no natural mortalities detected so far. These initial efforts have allowed project biologists to continue some of the herd monitoring basics originally implemented by the UW-SP research team, while developing methods to gather additional information that will be necessary to successfully manage the herd. In conjunction with the continued field monitoring, a Draft Management Plan and Environmental Assessment for the Clam Lake Elk Herd has been completed and is currently out for public review.
All indications are that the elk program continues to be popular and well received.
Field observations made by project biologists indicate that the mild weather will result in high over-winter survival for the Clam Lake elk. Good calf production this spring is predicted as well. Considerable time was spent this winter locating groups of elk with radio-telemetry and following elk tracks in the snow to learn what habitats they were using, and how they were foraging. While the groups with radio-collared animals primarily utilized the same areas that they have in previous winters, they were fairly mobile and used a variety of habitats. As a result, browsing by elk was very scattered and light.