The Daily Bucket is a regular feature of the Backyard Science group. It is a place to note any observations you have made of the world around you. Rain, sun, wind...insects, birds, flowers...meteorites, rocks...seasonal changes...all are worthy additions to the bucket. Please let us know what is going on around you in a comment. Include, as close as is comfortable for you, where you are located. Each note is a record that we can refer to in the future as we try to understand the patterns that are quietly unwinding around us.
Things have been pretty quiet in my neighborhood lately, and with the weather so extremely wet and stormy I haven't been outside as much. So instead of a look at local wildlife I'd like to share some I saw out on the Olympic Peninsula, on the northwest corner of Washington state, a couple of weeks ago.
One day on our recent trip out to the ocean we were driving along the riverside road and did a double-take. In a pasture by the road what I took for cows were actually wild elk! We turned around and I stopped to get a good look. I've seen elk up above the treeline in the Cascades in summer, but I'd never seen them this close.
They were making use of the cleared area much as elk have for thousands of years in this area, drawn to the forage in the lowland valley in winter.
These were cows and youngsters, a typical grouping at this time of year. The bulls are elsewhere.
Aren't these beautiful creatures?
But what were they doing in a pasture? I became curious about elk in this area.
These elk are members of one of four remaining subspecies, the Roosevelt elk, who live only in the maritime Pacific Northwest. Roosevelt elk (Cervus elaphus roosevelti) are larger in size than the far more numerous Rocky Mountain elk, but not as big as the extinct Eastern elk.
Historically Olympic Peninsula elk summered at higher elevations and wintered in the lowlands, especially in river valleys. In pre-contact times, Indians hunted them for food, clothing and ceremonial purposes. To promote nutritious elk and deer forage, and for food and medicinal plants, they regularly burned large areas of forest to maintain open prairies. The Quileute Indians maintained two big prairies not far from the ocean in the Quillayute River valley (and its tributaries the Sol Duc and Bogachiel) near the present-day town of Forks. When white settlers arrived, they found the prairies perfect for farming and took them over (a thumbnail history of the area). This is part of the Quillayute Prairie today. Beyond the field with cows you can see the Olympic mountains to the east.
Once white settlers arrived, their development and exploitation of the Peninsula changed the ecosystems significantly, including the elk population.
More below the fold.
(All photos by me. In Lightbox...click to enlarge)
Roads and new weaponry reduced elk numbers to near extinction by the turn of the last century. President Theodore Roosevelt visited the Olympic Peninsula in the early 1900s and, moved by the majesty of these great beasts, established Mount Olympus National Monument in 1909 to protect elk habitat. Hunting was banned. Over the next few decades elk numbers recovered vigorously - surprisingly, the clearcutting of forests provided forage in open burned areas. Hunting resumed, and as logging continued across the Peninsula, elk numbers were stable. However by 1980, virtually all old-growth forest was gone everywhere on the Peninsula except in Olympic National Park (established by Franklin Roosevelt in 1938) and the timber industry focused on tree plantations for future wood. Elk numbers began to decline again since most forest land was in some stage of 2nd growth trees, unusable to elk. Since the 1990s hunting regulations have been revised and logging-roads closed to stabilize the population, but it continues to decline (more information and specific data can be found Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Olympic Elk Herd Management Plan of 2005).
Research by members of the nearby Quileute tribe and others indicate that the elk are not just fewer but also underweight, which affects reproductive success. It appears that the quality of forage available to wintering elk has declined with logging, residential development and agriculture.
The elk I saw were grazing grass and browsing tree needles, which are considered low quality forage (WDFW "conifers as a last resort"). Elk are usually wary of people too. I have to conclude that it was unusual indeed to see these elk by the side of the road, and not a good sign of health.
It was remarkable to see these elk, but I would rather they were able to find a good living in the wilderness. There is a Plan (see WDFW link above), but there are also so many complicating variables - ecological, economic, political, climatic, cultural. I hope this wild population will survive.
~
The Bucket is open for your nature observations today. Seen any wild mammals, birds, reptiles, fish or invertebrates lately?
"Spotlight on Green News & Views" is posted every Saturday at 1:00 pm Pacific Time and Wednesday at 3:30 on the Daily Kos front page. It's a great way to catch up on diaries you might have missed. Be sure to recommend and comment in the diary.