North Olympic Peninsula

Read more about the article Survival rates focus of Makah’s elk studies
Rob McCoy, wildlife division manger for the Makah Tribe, and Shannon Murphy, wildlife biologist for the tribe, weigh and elk calf as part of the tribe's elk studies.

Survival rates focus of Makah’s elk studies

Rob McCoy, wildlife division manger for the Makah Tribe, and Shannon Murphy, wildlife biologist for the tribe, weigh and elk calf as part of the tribe's elk studies.
Bull elk on the north Olympic Peninsula are surviving today at roughly the same rate as they did in the late 1980s and early 1990s, according to early results of a two-year study by the Makah Tribe.

The tribe is halfway through the second year of a bull and calf elk survival study to update survival rate information gathered in the 1980s. “We want to be sure enough mature branch antlered bulls and spikes are making it through each year to maintain a healthy population,” said McCoy. The study is being conducted in an estimated 124,000-acre area that includes Makah reservation and commercial timberlands outside the reservation. (more…)

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Tribes and state change harvest levels of black-tail deer to bolster populations

“The management measures are an inter-tribal and state milestone,” said Rob McCoy, wildlife division manager for the Makah Tribe. “Everyone worked together to do something to protect the population for the future. “Harvest is something we can control. We don’t have the capability to accomplish predator control at this time and we can’t control the hair loss disease,” said McCoy. “This is the best way to maximize adult doe survival and increase the numbers of offspring,” he said.

Continue ReadingTribes and state change harvest levels of black-tail deer to bolster populations