Ha-ma-yas Stewardship Network Guardians, ecosystem biologists from the B.C. Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship (WLRS), and Nanwakolas Council staff are working together to study the habitat and behaviour of Roosevelt elk in the Nanwakolas member First Nations’ territories, in an effort to improve forestry and resource management that affects this important Vancouver Island species.
“I love information!” exclaims K’ómoks First Nation forester and woodlot manager, Guy Wright. “The more information, the better! This data we are getting now, working with these provincial scientists, it’s really interesting,” he adds enthusiastically. “It’s an eye-opener for people who don’t know much about elk, that’s for sure.”
Part of the third generation of forestry workers in his family, Guy has been out and about in his Nation’s territory for more than forty years, hunting elk and working as a forester, and has had the opportunity to observe elk in their habitat for decades. After all those years of experience, he knows a great deal about these animals.
It’s priceless place-based knowledge that he is now sharing with a project team comprised of Nanwakolas member First Nations Guardians, Nanwakolas Council staff, and WLRS scientists (who are in turn sharing with the rest of the team the GPS data they have been collecting over the last few years from collared Roosevelt elk on northern Vancouver Island). The group is working together with a common goal of determining what is needed to ensure that important elk habitat is adequately protected, now and in the future.
To achieve that goal, everyone needs a lot more information about elk habitat and elk behaviour – and combining knowledge, experience, skills, and data is a great way to go about getting it.
Coming from common ground – how it all began
WLRS began using GPS tracking collars on Roosevelt elk several years ago, to help inform provincial government planning and long-term conservation goals for the species.
“We wanted to update the science and gather new data to answer questions about the habitat supply across all seasons and the effectiveness of existing Ungulate Winter Ranges to meet the needs of elk” explains WLRS ecosystem biologist Carl Morrison. “A big focus is habitat stewardship, particularly winter ranges for the animals, as they are one of the main habitats that can be managed through existing regulations.”
As their research project progressed, provincial staff then began having conversations with the Nanwakolas member First Nations to hear their perspectives on elk, and to learn about their interests and concerns.
Elk are an important species for First Nations, observes Guy, both as a food source and for cultural reasons, so First Nations have always prioritized the careful stewardship of elk and protection of their habitat. Because that’s the case, says Nanwakolas Council wildlife biologist Melanie Clapham, she’s heard increasing concern from the Nanwakolas Council member First Nations about elk and their habitats in the territories. “I hear questions like, ‘how much is left?’ We hear a lot of concern about climate change and more extreme summers and winters. How are elk going to deal with that? How are we managing the land to provide them with what they need for the future, especially in the winter which is the hardest time of year for them to survive? Are we protecting calving grounds? Are we making sure they have open migration corridors? All these things are key for elk sustainability.”
As a result of these conversations, says Carl: “We all started to realize we have a lot of similar questions we are trying to address to meet what look like common goals. So, we started looking for an opportunity to build a collaborative project with Nanwakolas Council and the member First Nations to help answer some of those questions.”
Teamwork in action
In 2024, Guardians from the Tlowitsis, We Wai Kai, Wei Wai Kum and K’ómoks First Nations teamed up with Nanwakolas staff and WLRS to work together on a multiyear data collection and habitat assessment project, building on the GPS data already collected by WLRS.
Good elk habitat management requires a clear and consistent understanding of the quality, quantity, and distribution of that habitat on the Island, as well as how elk use it. Darryn McConkey, a senior ecosystem biologist working with Carl at WLRS, says that the opportunity to work together with the First Nations to gather more data and achieve that understanding is “really exciting.”
“What we are trying to do,” adds Carl,” is bring together what we know and understand about elk, and then share and learn from each other’s perspectives to build a clearer picture about elk habitat and how the animals use it.” The knowledge gained from the project will help with future decision making on habitat management and forestry planning.
Two-person teams of biologists and Guardians have been creating inventories of wallows – areas which the animals, particularly bull elk, use to coat themselves with mud and urine during breeding season – and migration corridors that the elk use to move between their summer and winter range. The teams have set up 35 remote cameras in these different areas to record how often the animals move through them, how they use them, and what may be having an impact on them – such as forestry activity, or predators.
“It’s apparent every time we work with the Guardians out in the field that everyone is excited to work on elk,” says Darryn. “I know the biologists think it’s fantastic, and I think the Guardians really enjoy it as well. Everyone brings different perspectives to the work and that’s one of the huge benefits of collaboration. It really feels like we’re working towards the same goals.”
“I enjoy going out with the biologists,” confirms Caelan Mclean, assistant Guardian Manager with the K’ómoks First Nation and an experienced elk hunter. “It’s a nice learning experience for both of us every time. It’s really cool. It’s also nice to know that I am working with these guys to help manage the area for elk, not just take elk from it – it feels like this is letting me do my part to contribute.”
“What’s fun about the work is that it’s different every day,” adds Carl. “We might have five teams go out on the same day to different places and when we come back together every team has had a different experience and learned something new. It’s also really cool to see what is in the field match up to the data – one good example of that was in spring of 2024 when we used the GPS collar data to identify calving sites, based on movements between consecutive GPS points. We would expect a cow elk who’s giving birth to really slow her movement down and stay put for a while, and then as her calf gets old enough, to start moving more again. We used GPS data to find those signals in the data, and then we would run out to the field and see if we could validate it by finding a calving location.”
“We pulled it off once,” he continues. “I was with Guardians from Wei Wai Kum Nation the day it happened. It was neat to bring that high-level satellite-level monitoring down to the ground and be able to locate an elk calf because of it. I think we’re all excited about being able to find those sites based on that data and technology.”
What’s the big deal with elk, anyway?
Roosevelt elk have been around for millennia, and as a sustainable food source, they are hard to beat, explains Guy: “I call them a keystone species. If they are thriving, other species do well too.” He and his wife regularly hunt elk, stocking up not only their larder, but those of community members as well. “We provide for three families and if there is a community dinner, we will always share for that too.” Guy just loves to be outdoors, rain or shine or snow, and when he is out hunting just the sight of an elk feels good. Whether he gets one or not, being outside in nature is always a good feeling.
Like Guy, Caelan also hunts to fill his family’s larder and says that one elk provides enough meat for his family for a year. “It’s a staple food source, and really important. There are a lot of people in our Nation who rely on elk. It isn’t just food, either,” he adds. “The hide can get used for drums or clothing. The fat is good for skin issues like eczema. The antlers can be made into tools, like digging tools for silverweed bulbs, which are edible, or for shaving the prickles off devil’s club plants, which are medicinal.”
For Darryn, just being in the presence of elk is an incredible experience. “I’m blown away when I see elk in person,” he says. “They’re really important for hunting and wildlife viewing and other ways in which people generally use and enjoy elk.” It is a two-way relationship between elk and the environment, as well as with humans: “These big animals also have a huge influence on our landscape as well – their presence and movements drive a lot of the structure and functions of our ecosystems.”
Darryn points out that Roosevelt elk are “blue listed” by the provincial government as a species of special concern, i.e. an animal that is particularly sensitive to human activities. It’s imperative for everyone to work together and do their best to help protect elk habitat on northern Vancouver Island, and to ensure that human activity like forestry is effectively managed to consider the needs of these magnificent and important animals.
The exciting stuff, and the end goal
With more than 145 hours recorded on the cameras by October – which are taking the team weeks to review thoroughly – it is still early days to determine what is happening, but some surprises have already presented themselves. Melanie Clapham was excited to see evidence of what the team had already suspected: “We had thought that the wallows might be used at different times, not just by bulls at the rut. What we’ve found already is that there is activity at these sites throughout the season, and not just by the males but also by the cows, who seem to get excited around the wallows, pawing at them, licking the air, and running around.”
“The behaviour of the cows really struck me,” adds Darryn, “because I had been expecting to see bull elk thrashing around and that the area would be dominated by them. But then, the cows show up and they’re just as excited as the males. It makes sense because the breeding season does take two to tango, after all!”
Of course, there is more than just fun and excited elk involved. For all the members of the project team, this kind of revelation is all about informing the end goals of the project: understanding the habitat needs of elk and ensuring that sufficient habitat is protected through well-informed and improved forest and resource management planning. That way, we can all be sure that future generations will also enjoy the presence of elk on northern Vancouver Island.
To learn more about Roosevelt elk: check out these resources:
IWIFR: https://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfd/pubs/docs/srs/srs05.htm
Management Plan: https://www.env.gov.bc.ca/fw/wildlife/management-issues/docs/roosevelt_elk_management_plan.pdf
Watch this space
There is plenty more work coming up in the 2025 season for the Guardian and biologist teams, along with Nanwakolas Council staff, and plenty more interesting information to learn about these amazing animals. Watch this space for updates and photos!