Nevada will get Utah elk

Friday, Dec. 20, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

The elk came from one of Utah's healthiest Rocky Mountain elk herds, on property owned by the Kennecott Corp. The swap is part of the Division of Wildlife Resources' plan to bolster the state's population of desert bighorn sheep.

Division employees used a helicopter Wednesday to trap the elk. The animals were herded into a holding area, and then 54 of them were loaded into horse trailers for a ride northward to Hardware Ranch southeast of Logan.

They'll be quarantined and tested for brucellosis and tuberculosis before wildlife officials from Nevada pick them up on Saturday. Almost all of the elk were calves or pregnant cows.

Thirty-eight other elk were kept in holding pens, and will be taken to the Hardware Ranch for the tests on Saturday.

"We have been fortunate to never have had a case of tuberculosis in Utah elk. We want to maintain that status," said Bruce Giunta, central Utah's regional wildlife manager. "The division has concerns about disease with elk-ranching legislation pending. We want to make sure our own house is in order."

Although elk have been captured this way before, this was the first time it has happened on what is called the "Heaston unit," which essentially is the Oquirrh Mountains.

The existing herd is estimated at between 600 and 700 animals. That is more than double the 250 in the elk-management plan approved by the Utah Wildlife Board. Hunting is the usual method of reducing herd sizes, but public hunting in the area has been minimal out of concern for Kennecott workers.

"This is a way for us to get closer to the target number," Giunta said. "It will also help Kennecott achieve rehabilitation objectives."

According to Giunta, the Heaston herd is one of the state's oldest. Elk were reintroduced to historic habitat there between 1910 and 1912 with elk from Yellowstone National Park.

Utah has already received sheep. Twenty desert bighorn sheep from Nevada were released near the Paria River in southern Utah in October. Animal trades are common among wildlife agencies.