Dent’s Elk Management Legislation Moves To Senate

Earlier this week, the state House took action commissioning a pilot project looking to reduce highway collisions with elk.  The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife says a manageable population for the Colockum elk herd in Kittitas County is about 4,500.  But in recent years, that population has exploded to more than 6,000 elk.

Moses Lake Republican Representative Tom Dent said it’s out of control, and hurting rural Central Washingtonians.

“The result of that, we have these elk spilling out into areas where we don’t want them to be – in the farmer’s yards, their hay barns, just about everywhere. But the biggest issue we have is they’re also crossing I-90.”

Dent is the sponsor of House Bill 1353, which would create the Kittitas County pilot project to reduce the elk population.  The bill passed the House with a near unanimous vote. It now goes to the Senate for further consideration.

Last year, 90 elk were killed in collisions along I-90 near Vantage.

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