Eastern elk inhabit areas like reclaimed coal mines and mixed hardwood forests, which differ significantly from Western habitat. Therefore, tailor-made strategies are necessary to address the unique ecological conditions of Eastern landscapes. Prescribed fire and herbicide treatments could greatly enhance forage availability for Eastern elk. These practices need to be studied, however, so that managers can gain information on how best to apply them and even predict effectiveness. It takes funding and mobilization to carry out the research.
The primary goal of an ongoing RMEF-led research project, conducted in partnership with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, University of Kentucky and University of Tennessee, is to evaluate whether commonly used habitat treatments, such as prescribed fire and herbicide, lead to measurable improvements in elk nutrition in Eastern landscapes. By integrating GPS-based movement data with nutritional analysis of elk diets this work tests a new, non-invasive framework for directly linking management actions to biological outcomes. A secondary objective is to assess the feasibility of using this approach as a scalable, cost-effective monitoring tool to inform habitat management and improve conservation return on investment.
This research directly supports long-term mission goals at RMEF by proving an evidence-based framework for evaluating habitat management effectiveness in Eastern elk systems. Rather than focusing solely on how elk respond to changes in vegetation or how they use the landscape, this project tests whether commonly applied treatments (fire and herbicide) translate into measurable improvements in elk nutrition, a key driver of population growth.
The benefits of this research go beyond elk and wildlife managers. This project helps the Kentucky economy and hunters by identifying which habitat treatments actually improve elk nutrition, allowing managers to target investments that increase hunting quality, sustain elk populations and drive more consistent economic activity in rural communities. The findings will help guide RMEF’s conservation investment strategy by identifying which treatments provide meaningful returns, allowing for more efficient allocation of resources across Eastern elk landscapes. More broadly, this approach establishes a framework that can be applied to other systems and species, including white-tailed deer, where understanding the nutritional consequences of habitat management is critical for effective conservation.