Elk Management Areas
Clam Lake Herd
The Clam Lake elk herd is estimated to be approximately 355 individuals as of July 2023. The herd currently occupies a range of roughly 400 square miles. The primary habitat used by the elk consists of aspen and pine forests interspersed with forest openings, as well as lowland conifers in the winter. The northern herd can sustain an annual bull-only hunting season and now occupies about 25% of the Clam Lake Elk Range.
This population has grown slowly but steadily since its reintroduction in 1995. The average growth rate is 10% per year, but the growth rates have varied from as high as 30% to as low as -16%. Primary causes of mortality include predation by wolves and black bears, vehicle collisions and (in recent years) hunter harvest.
The entire Clam Lake Elk Range is located within the 1837 and 1842 Ceded Territories, where the Ojibwe tribes’ off-reservation, treaty-observed rights may be exercised under their respective tribal conservation codes.
Five state highways cross or border the range, with a sixth just south of the southern boundary. Additionally, numerous county highways run throughout the Clam Lake Elk Range. There are no sizeable human population areas within the range border.
Habitat In The Clam Lake Elk Range
Based on the habitat suitability model (derived from a study by Didier and Porter), the Wisconsin Elk Study Committee determined that the United States Forest Service Great Divide District of the Chequamegon National Forest near Clam Lake was most suited for an elk reintroduction.
This range, called the Clam Lake Elk Range, lies within the Northern Forest Region of Wisconsin and comprises portions of five counties, including Sawyer, Ashland, Bayfield, Price and Rusk. The area is 1,620 square miles and is primarily forested. Many forest openings are maintained for elk and other wildlife use. 68% of the Clam Lake Elk Range is public land ownership and lies roughly in two lobes.
The original Clam Lake elk range’s northern lobe encompassed 1,112 square miles, centered on the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest-Great Divide District (CNNF-GDD). The CNNF-GDD comprises 589 square miles (377,200 acres) of flat to rolling terrain in portions of Ashland, Bayfield and Sawyer Counties. Approximately 65% of the northern lobe is under public ownership, with relatively little private ownership in agricultural production.
The now-decommissioned U.S. Department of Navy’s Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) Communication System is a vital landscape component. The ELF line is an X-shaped corridor, annually maintained as a wildlife opening (free of trees and shrubs). The ELF line provides seasonally critical elk habitat because these open areas are dominated by highly palatable forage for elk, like grasses, sedges and forbs. Each segment of the X-shaped corridor is about nine miles long (~36 miles in total) and varies from less than 20 to more than 300 feet wide.
The southern lobe of the Clam Lake Elk Range contains 508 square miles of suitable elk habitat that was officially added to the range by administrative rule in 2012. Public lands (federal, state, county and open industrial forest) comprise 78% of this lobe and include significant blocks of the Sawyer, Price and Rusk County forests, the Flambeau River State Forest, multiple state wildlife areas and large blocks of industrial forest land.
Aspen clear cuts are one the primary sources of food within the Clam Lake Elk Range, and many properties provide regenerating aspen stands in industrial and managed forests, aggressively managed for revenue generation. They contain vast acreages of aspen in all age classes, including over 171,700 acres (23% of the lobe) of aspen forest.
Population Goal
The 2012 Elk Plan Amendment established a population goal of 1,400 elk for the original Clam Lake Elk Range. This population goal was initially set in the 2000 Management Plan and Environmental Assessment (aiming for one to two elk per square mile for the 1,112 square mile Clam Lake elk range). When the boundary was expanded through the 2012 Elk Plan Amendment, the goal remained unchanged (1,400) for the then-expanded range. This goal represents a density goal of approximately 0.9 elk per square mile, recognizing that elk live in family groups and observed densities are locally higher.
Map of Clam Lake Elk Range
Black River Herd
The Black River Elk Range is approximately 80 miles south of the southern boundary of the Clam Lake Elk Range and is about 252 square miles. The Black River Elk Range is located in the Central Forest region of eastern Jackson County. This region of Wisconsin is primarily forested, with some scattered grasslands, barrens and sedge meadows. The vegetation mosaic consists mainly of pine (jack, white and red), oak (red, white and black), central hardwoods and aspen forest, with intermittent open areas. Compared to the northern elk management zone, temperatures are slightly warmer and considerably less snowfall accumulates in the Central Elk Management Zone.
The Black River elk herd is estimated to be approximately 160 animals as of July 2023, including newborn calves to be born this spring. Vehicle collisions have been the leading cause of mortality in the Black River herd. Since reintroduction, the population has increased through natural reproduction, and the Black River herd is now an established wild herd in central Wisconsin.
In December 2001, the Natural Resources Board adopted the Black River Elk Herd Management Plan. As part of the plan, the DNR determined that the Black River State Forest and surrounding public lands (primarily the Jackson County Forest) matched the criteria of lying within a historical elk management zone and providing suitable habitat to fulfill an elk herd’s biological needs while minimizing the potential for human-wildlife conflicts.
83% of the Black River elk range is in public ownership. Land ownership consists of the 68,000-acre Black River State Forest (including the Dike 17 Wildlife Area) and 120,000-acre Jackson County Forest (including the Wazee Recreational Area), Ho-Chunk Tribal land and privately-owned parcels.
Map of Black River Falls Elk Range
