When biologists talk about their work with elk, they are quick to describe how carefully they handle the animals. Over the years, they have refined and improved techniques that reduce stress to elk that are being handled or limit the need for any handling at all.

Capturing an elk isn't easy. Biologists have to know where the elk are likely to be at that time of year and what routes the elk usually follow. Then the biologists can set traps along the trails or in foraging areas. In more open areas, biologists trap elk by "net-gunning" -- shooting a net over them from a helicopter. Ground crews, often times clad in pads and helmets for protection, move in to subdue the elk and sedate it so biologists can safely draw blood and other samples, take measurements, and attach a tag or a radio collar.

When an elk wears a radio collar, its movements can be followed using radio telemetry. The collar contains a tiny transmitter that sends a signal that biologists can hear on receivers and then log the elk's location in a database. Biologists can monitor elk movements from the ground or from an airplane or helicopter. They are also using satellites and global positioning systems to track wildlife, although it is more exepensive to track elk with this method.

Elk Increase
Canoeists paddling today along the Buffalo River in Arkansas can see wild elk -- a sight missing from this state for more than 100 years. In 1981, elk were reintroduced to this area of the Ozark Mountains as part of a statewide program to restore the biodiversity of the region. Black bears, white-tailed deer, wild turkeys and ruffed grouse have also been returned to the forests along Arkansas' Buffalo River.

Elk now live as far east as Pennsylvania, where they were reintroduced in the early 1900s, and now more than 700 elk roam through forests in the north-central part of the state. Scientists are investigating the feasibility of reintroducing elk to other areas in the East.

Elk populations are also increasing in other states where they had almost disappeared. The forests surrounding Flagstaff, Arizona, are home to an increasing number of elk. Once down to only a few individuals, California's 7,500 elk now live in locations from the foggy coastal ranges to the hot and sunny central valleys. And, for the first time in decades, elk can be seen on the prairie between Denver and Colorado Springs where they were abundant before human settlement.

Although elk will probably never return to their historic numbers nor to all of their historic range, far more elk inhabit the United States than at any other time in the last 100 years.

Maintaining Populations
In an ecosystem undisturbed by humans, elk populations would fluctuate depending on the quality of their habitat. They would also be hunted by predators such as mountain lions, wolves and bears. Today, though, most elk live in habitats of varying quality and size that are affected by human activities and have fewer wild predators.

To mitigate people's impact on habitat quality, wildlife managers sometimes manipulate the habitat to benefit elk. For example, in Colorado they fertilize selected areas to increase the growth of grasses that elk eat. These actions can benefit other wildlife, too, such as birds that live in grasslands.

One of the toughest challenges wildlife managers face is estimating how these populations will increase or decrease. It's an important challenge because the goal is to maintain elk populations that are healthy with a management program that is acceptable to a diverse group of people.

Hunters play a role in achieving this goal and have helped to ensure the return of elk in North America. Hunting has been used as an elk management technique to keep the number of elk in balance with their habitat.

For example, the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma is home to anywhere from 380 to 800 elk, the maximum number that this small remnant of wild prairie can support. In the absence of natural predators, refuge managers use hunting to balance the elk population with the prairie resource.

Biologists collect valuable data from hunters, including the sex and age of the animals, the numbers taken and the locations. From the data, biologists construct a picture of the elk population that will help wildlife managers maintain healthy elk populations.

Wildlife managers throughout the United States face a growing challenge: helping hunters and nonhunters understand and communicate with each other. Opinions about hunting are as diverse as the people who hold them. Through education, the role that each group plays in wildlife conservation can be better understood.

People who enjoy elk -- hunters and nonhunters -- bring in millions of dollars to local economies. Their money bolsters the economies of small towns where they buy gas, rent rooms and hire outfitters. (See "Enjoying Elk" for more information.) The money people spend for hunting and fishing licenses also provides a major source of funding for state wildlife agencies. Hunting license fees contribute to elk research, management and the purchase of critical elk habitat.

Many other sources provide funding for programs that benefit elk and other wildlife. Federal laws such as the Pittman-Robertson Act and the Dingell-Johnson Act place taxes on hunting and fishing equipment. Federal agencies such as the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management match funds with contributions from conservation groups like the Elk Foundation, state agencies and individuals. States also raise money through personal income tax wildlife check-off programs, special license plate sales, wildlife stamp and artwork sales and other innovative methods.

Protecting habitat is key to ensuring the survival of elk and other wildlife that we all enjoy. You can read more about how this is done in "Enjoying Elk" and "How are Elk Faring?," as well as the next section .

Reducing Problems
Elk adjust to a variety of habitats and conditions including coastal ranges, windy alpine ridges, and dense deciduous forests. In some places, elk can even live around people, although this is not their normal behavior. But there are certain things elk need -- early spring food, safe calving areas, nutritious summer forage, room for rutting -- that they don't always find easily if their habitat has been reduced or disturbed.

Finding nutritious food in early spring is vitally important to elk that have survived a mountain winter. In some locations, they can find such forage around the base of large trees that radiate the sun's warmth and melt the nearby snow. If those trees have been cut, though, there is less warmth to melt the snow and thus less early spring forage.

Elk often have to share their habitat with cattle. To make sure both species obtain enough food, managers use a variety of strategies that fit specific habitats and the needs of other wildlife. In Valle Vidal, a grassland in the Sangre de Cristo Range of New Mexico, cattle are not allowed on the range in early spring while elk eat the first growth of grass. After the elk have moved up to their summer range, cattle are allowed to graze. A similar strategy is used in the Wall Creek Management Area of Montana. There, cattle are moved from pasture to pasture in a pattern that ensures enough forage remains for elk and other wildlife.

Calving time, in late spring and early summer, is a period when cow elk especially need a safe place with good food and water and little disturbance by humans. For some elk in Colorado, for example, those places are aspen groves that remain wet until mid-summer.

A few people might hike while the trails are still muddy, but most wait until the trails are drier. By then, most of the elk have gone to higher country above treeline. If popular trails do cross elk calving areas -- such as in Cache Creek, California -- those trails might be closed until July.

In summer, elk require rich forage to build up their reserves for the coming rutting season and winter. They can find some of this food in open areas where trees have been cut. But recent studies indicate that dense stands of old trees, once thought to have little value to elk, may provide especially valuable forage in late summer. At that time, some understory plants seem to undergo chemical changes that provide important nutrients for elk.

The autumn rutting season is a time when elk are sometimes disrupted by people. Several years ago in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, a bull elk was seen standing in the middle of a river instead of crossing to where cows were grazing. Visitors crowded around the cows, taking pictures of the bull and calling to it. He finally returned to the other side of the river, away from the cows.

Sometimes the elk don't seem bothered at all. As many as 5,000 people might line a road in northern Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park to watch and listen to bulls bugling. So far, those hordes of people haven't seemed to disturb the elk too much.

Late autumn is also a time when elk often seek dense cover to hide from hunters. If their range has been heavily logged, studies indicate that the elk often will remain in whatever areas haven't been cut, even if the forage is inadequate. If hunters can gain access into wild areas on logging roads, the elk might be pushed farther from their feeding areas as they search for cover. Recognizing this, wildlife management agencies and timber companies sometimes close or limit access to logging roads during the hunting season. State and federal agencies are working with timber companies to lessen other impacts of logging on wildlife habitat. For example, they are beginning to cut trees in more selective ways that help preserve resources for elk and other wildlife.

Winter often finds elk in lower elevations where increasing numbers of people are building homes or subdividing large ranches into smaller units. Their forage may disappear or their routes to winter range can be disrupted where houses have been built near a corridor the elk use to migrate from the high country.

Winter recreation can cause problems for elk, too. Intense activity around the base of downhill ski areas can disrupt elk winter range and drive the animals to locations with insufficient food or inadequate shelter. One researcher has reported that the sudden sight of a relatively quiet backcountry skier may be more startling to elk than the roar of a snowmobile. On the other hand, wildlife managers in Idaho have seen elk move several miles away from snowmobilers traveling through their winter range. Whenever elk or any wild animal must move unnecessarily, that extra action expends energy the animals cannot afford to lose at this time of year.

Elk sometimes coexist with development in surprising locations. For example, skiers traveling from Denver west on I-70 often see elk along the waterways that the highway follows. But elk can also be in danger near roads -- a collision with a car is serious for both the elk and the people in the car. Along I-70 and other major highways in Colorado, high fences or special crossing areas have been built for the animals. Along smaller roads in Colorado and elsewhere, bright yellow signs warn motorists that elk may be nearby. Public information campaigns remind motorists to be especially careful at dusk and dawn, times when elk often move to and from their feeding areas.

Antlers in Demand
In late winter, as soon as bull elk begin shedding their antlers, people begin collecting those antlers. The trade in antlers is as brisk as the trade in baseball cards. Artists carve antlers into jewelry, fashion them into light fixtures, and turn them into furniture. People in some parts of Asia also grind the antlers into powders for medicinal use.

People can legally search for shed antlers on some private and public land, but poachers will go to great lengths to gather antlers anywhere. Every year poachers are arrested as they try to remove antlers from national parks. One pair of poachers tried to carry their booty away on mountain bikes. Another thief lost his life when his overloaded boat flipped as he tried to float out of Yellowstone National Park. Unfortunately, poachers will also kill bull elk just to cut off the antlers.

Whether you live in elk country or are visiting their wild home, one of the greatest thrills you can experience is to actually see elk. Wildlife managers and elk biologists share that awe of elk. "I've been around elk for more than 20 years," one biologist said, "and they still take my breath away."