State honors North Bend men for work with elk
June 22, 2011
By Staff
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has recognized two North Bend men for their help in monitoring and managing the upper Snoqualmie Valley’s growing elk herd.
Jim Gildersleeve and Harold Erland were named citizen Volunteers of the Year for 2010 by the department. Both are active in the Upper Snoqualmie Valley Elk Management Group.
WDFW Director Phil Anderson will present the award to the men June 2 at the department’s regional office in Mill Creek.
The men are being recognized for their help in resolving conflicts between residents and the 350 to 400 elk living in the Valley, according to a wildlife department news release.
Gildersleeve helped start the management group in 2008 to work with the state in addressing conflicts between residents and the elk. As a leader of that organization, he helped raise funds for essential research and worked with the department to coordinate permit-only hunts to reduce the size of the herd.
Erland, a volunteer research biologist for the group, has worked closely with the department to determine the herd’s size and age structure. As part of his research, he has coordinated the capture and marking of 34 elk, and he leads monthly discussions about herd-management strategies with area residents.
“It can present a real management challenge when a growing elk herd starts pushing into populated areas,” Anderson said in the release.
He credited the two men with working with the department “toward a mutual, scientifically sound solution.”
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