A s the land management agency responsible for managing most of the occupied elk habitat in the continental United States, the Forest Service plays a definite role in establishing a future for wild, free-ranging elk on public lands. Nearly 80 percent of today's elk population reside year-round or seasonally on National Forests and Grasslands.
Elk make the public lands richer- their presence lends a wild edge, a bit of wonder.
Elk have occupied North America for at least 10,000 years. With a range that extended almost coast to coast, elk were the most widespread members of the deer family when European man first arrived. The westward expansion of man changed that. Elk were eliminated from the eastern United States by the mid 1800's. The history of elk in the United States is a classic case of habitat loss caused by man's settlement and development of the west.