How Has Elk Reintroduction Impacted Kentucky?

Editor’s note: This article features a submitted map. We congratulate the cartographer whose map was selected and invite you to submit your own maps for consideration.

The unmistakable call of an elk bugling is not as common in the US as it once was. Habitat destruction and over-hunting have decimated elk populations, especially in the Eastern US.

In recent years, the trend has begun to reverse. States have begun to protect and reintroduce elk herds to places they once ranged. Kentucky is one such state. This print map from Zach Ausmus tells the story of elk reintroduction in Kentucky.

This map uses data from the US Geological Survey (USGS) and the State of Kentucky to show elk ranges and regulations. Immediately, you can see the expansive range of elk across the state. You can also see areas where elk are protected and where regulated hunting is permitted.

The underlying topography gives you a sense of the habitats preferred by elk. In Kentucky, elk range across the mountainous regions near Tennessee and Virginia. The inset map of elk ranges across the US also shows Kentucky’s unique success.

Despite only being reintroduced to the state in 1997, elk herds have thrived in the years since. Kentucky now has the largest population of elk in the Eastern US. As the map itself notes, their reintroduction and regulated hunting has contributed over $3.5 million in economic impact to the state.