Elk integration plan will be on the table Dec. 12

Thirty-two homesteads in Progress Township are set to receive notice by mail of a pending Carlton County board vote regarding an elk reintroduction pen proposed to be located there.

Saying they wanted to collect public input by those most closely affected, county commissioners unanimously tabled a vote Monday that would have addressed the pen. Instead, commissioners agreed to alert residents of the possibility and give them time to appear at the next board meeting, 4 p.m. Dec. 12 at the Carlton County Transportation Building.

“I just want the public to have an opportunity to express themselves and not after the fact,” said commissioner Gary Peterson.

Sparsely populated, Progress Township is located due west of Cloquet on the way to Cromwell. A piece of tax-forfeited land in Progress Township has been identified as the best location within the Fond du Lac reservation to establish a holding pen for the potential reintroduction of elk to northeastern Minnesota by the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.

“This particular parcel, for a number of reasons, rose to the top,” said Fond du Lac wildlife biologist Mike Schrage, who appeared before the board during a half-hour long discussion on the elk.

The site was chosen by the Band and Minnesota Department of Natural Resources for its high ground, road access, bumblebee habitat, and recent logging activity. Schrage said it might have been preferable to locate the pen on tribal land, but available land was not as suitable.

“We’re not proposing to move any animals before February 2026, so we’re a couple years out,” Schrage said.

The elk would be taken from more westerly herds, where the Red Lake Band has already reintroduced the animal. The ultimate goal would be to have 100 to 150 elk in the area, with likely 12 to 25 animals coming annually for roughly 10 years. Of course, they’ll need to be caught first, Schrage said, making it sound like no simple task.

The elk brought to Progress Township would be penned, tested and observed for several weeks, ensuring there was no disease or other issues with any particular animal.

The 5- to 10-acre pen would be constructed to include 10-foot fencing, a parking lot and some outbuildings, Schrage explained.

Peterson offered up a series of questions related to vehicle crashes, chronic wasting disease, and damage by the herd to farming, both in terms of broken fencing and lost feed. Schrage admitted that ultimately there would be vehicle collisions, as seen with deer, and that there are programs for farmers to recoup any damages made by an elk herd. Schrage also said educational efforts would be undertaken to protect farmers’ stores of feed and grains, and that signage would be implemented to alert motorists.

Chronic wasting disease has not been identified in any elk so far in the state, but the animal is susceptible to the disease and it is deadly for them, as it is with deer, Schrage said.

The state legislature appropriated $4 million to the Fond du Lac Band earlier this year to “expand Minnesota’s wild elk population and range,” the legislation said.

Schrage cited a cooperative survey by the Band and University of Minnesota that weighed the opinions of 4,500 private landowners and 4,000 local residents in northeastern Minnesota regarding elk.

In the survey, landowners and local residents within the study areas strongly supported restoring wild, free-ranging elk to the study areas in northeastern Minnesota (80 percent and 81 percent, respectively). About 12 percent of landowners and 9 percent of local residents were unlikely to support elk restoration, the survey said. Landowner support for restoration in northeastern Minnesota was highest in the Cloquet Valley Study Area (82 percent) and lowest in the Fond du Lac Study Area (75 percent).

Peterson said there was no guarantee the elk would stay in Progress Township, and compared movements to a popular moose currently being tracked by citizens as it meanders across the state.

County land commissioner Greg Bernu put into perspective how many homeowners are within range of the proposed holding pen.

“If I notified all of the landowners within 3 miles of this site, I’d be sending out two letters — one to Fond du Lac and one to the DNR,” Bernu said.

The nearest resident would be found near Spirit Lake, and most Progress Township residents live along the Highway 210 corridor, he said.

“I don’t have a problem” sending a letter, Bernu said, adding that it will give residents a chance to speak “or forever hold your peace.”