FENCING NOW LIKELY ELK SOLUTION Al Scalf, director of the Jefferson County Department of Community Development, gesturing, discusses the future of the Dungeness Sequim Elk Herd Jan. 16. Also pictured from left are Brian Turner, natural resource district manager with the Washington Department of Natural Resources; John Miller, director of Clallam County Department of Community Development; and Jim Bay, director of Sequim Public Works. Photo by Ariel Hansen By Ariel Hansen Staff writer The people spoke, and the elk managers listened. Last August, dozens of Dungeness Valley residents turned up to protest a plan to move the herd out of the valley and potentially swap them with elk from the Wynoochee area. On Jan. 16, herd managers gathered to discuss the public?s reaction to that plan. ?The flavor of it certainly was that people didn?t like the idea of moving elk away from the city,? said Jack Smith, wildlife manager for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife. ?There were a number of them that suggested various types of fencing as part of a solution, and that fencing hadn?t been explored enough.? On reviewing the results of the August public meeting and additional written comments received in the months after, the herd managers agreed. A major relocation of the herd out of the valley is out, and an option incorporating fencing is in. The importance of having elk The thread that ran through most of the public comments in objection to the elk swap was a feeling that the herd should stay in the Dungeness Valley, for a variety of reasons. For some, forcing a species out of its habitat was unacceptable, while others felt the elk would be damaged by a move. Sequim has made the herd an unofficial icon through use of elk imagery throughout the city, and some comments referenced this iconic status while emphasizing how much visitors and residents alike enjoy viewing the elk. ?In my view, the reason we?re talking about this is because the public has put such a value on viewing,? said Scott Chitwood, natural resources director for the Jamestown S?Klallam Tribe, which co-manages the herd with DFW. He noted that the tribe had been fully behind the swapping alternative as a way to help the elk achieve a natural environment with as little human interaction as possible. ?At the same time, the Jamestown S?Klallam Tribe has a fairly pragmatic view of how we?re going to solve the elk problem, and we can?t do it by ourselves,? Chitwood said. All the parties at the table, which included the tribe, DFW, Department of Natural Resources, Forest Service, Jefferson County, Clallam County and Sequim, agreed that a combined effort will be needed to make any alternative viable. Where to fence? Four paths for a potential fence were discussed, all of which would keep the herd south of U.S. Highway 101. Among these was the suggestion of the Sequim Elk Habitat Committee, which has worked with the herd managers for years, to put the fence along the southern edge of the highway, in state right of way. This would, if the state agreed, mitigate worries about having to obtain easements through private property. For similar reasons, the managers are considering putting the fence along the Bonneville Power Administration?s electric power line right of way, or even farther south, along the edge of DNR and Forest Service lands. The fourth path would be somewhere in between, possibly going along Happy Valley Road for part of the way, and possibly including some land that has been offered to the city of Sequim as elk habitat or viewing area. The potential donation of these 24 acres, just north of the highway on the east side of the city, garnered mixed reactions from the managers. While they recognized that such a donation could be a useful in-kind contribution when applying for grants to complete other parts of the eventual elk plan, the logistics of cordoning off the area and having the elk potentially pass under the highway to use it may prove a deal-killer. ?I see us potentially having to spend a lot of money to accommodate that donation,? said Steve Pozzanghera, deputy assistant director for DFW?s wildlife program. Logistics of fencing Even without additional costs of creating a highway crossing, fencing is not cheap. All the herd managers at the Jan. 16 meeting agreed that the cost estimate from the habitat committee of $329,000 for a 9-mile fence was unreasonably low. Even the state?s estimate of $1.2 million for an 8-mile fence, arrived at by DFW engineers last year, may not be accurate, Smith said. ?They said, ?I?ll give you a number, but it?s going to change a lot,?? Smith said, depending on the topographical challenges of any particular fence path and the number of roads that must be crossed. ?There?s a lot of detail like that ? it?s hard to come up with an estimate unless you know your route.? Any fencing option will likely involve some kind of relocation of the herd, either through herding them or trapping and moving them behind the fence. This would add to the total cost of fencing, as will ongoing maintenance of the fence due to damage from elk, weather and human activity. A big question is how all of this will be paid for. Jim Bay, public works director for Sequim, suggested that the state should look into the possibility of forming a wildlife habitat district in which all the property owners would contribute a small amount annually. ?If we could do it for a large area, it would be almost nothing and would generate a fair amount of money that would be ongoing for wildlife,? Bay said. ?I like the creative thought,? Pozzanghera said, promising to look into the idea. ?We have to get past the idea that we can?t make this work.? |
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