The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) today announced that three elk viewing stations were recently installed in northeast Michigan.
Volunteers from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF) and DNR staff members worked together with the Cadillac Career Technical Center on a project to improve awareness of elk and their management in Michigan. An important part of this outreach project is to help visitors get a chance to see an actual elk.
“We are really excited to help folks view Michigan elk in their natural habitat,” said DNR wildlife technician Katie Keen. “Elk viewing is very popular in the fall, and we want to help increase wildlife watchers’ chances of seeing this large animal.”
The viewing stations were built this past school year by Cadillac area high school students who attended the Cadillac Career Technical Center’s building trades class. The RMEF paid for building materials for the viewing stations.
A viewing station is an information board with elk history, biological facts and management information, placed in an area where elk may be seen. The station also includes a map indicating other areas where elk can be frequently found. Roads are named and GPS points are listed to help navigate parts of the Pigeon River Country State Forest and nearby areas.
Elk in Michigan are managed in an area of Otsego, Montmorency, Presque Isle, and Cheboygan counties, in the northeast Lower Peninsula. Elk can be found on public and private land, although the DNR works hard to provide all habitat requirements for elk on public land to help reduce social conflicts that can arise with a large plant-eating animal.
Wildlife viewing is part of a growing eco-tourism concept that many small communities currently benefit from.
“Michigan elk can only be found in this area,” said Dan Collard of RMEF. “And the best way to appreciate such an awesome animal is to get a chance to see it – and if you’re lucky, you might even get to hear it!”
While there are never guarantees that elk will visit a particular place at a particular time, the viewing stations were placed in areas of substantial elk activity and where the DNR has made the habitat attractive to elk.
An elk viewing brochure, with the viewing map included, has also been produced as part of this project. To download this brochure, go to www.michigan.gov/elk.
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