Front Porch: Sometimes human, animal migrations intersect

Why did the elk cross the road?

I never thought I’d be considering that question until I drove to Seattle earlier this month. I’d just crossed the Columbia River and entered Vantage on Interstate 90 when I saw one of those big portable digital signs by the side of the road warning of elk crossing for the next 10 miles, and then halfway up the Vantage grade, there was another one with the same warning. In all the decades I’ve been making this trek, this was a first.

I travel to Seattle often and have rather unkindly considered the space between here and there as simply the drive-through counties. But then a few years ago I began noticing and appreciating the beauty of those in-between areas and started paying real attention to what I saw along the way. I even began writing about what I viewed from I-90. I’ve written about Sprague Lake, Mount Stuart, the crop signs in the fence lines between Moses Lake and the river and more – and I’ve heard from people with their own stories about this state’s sometimes stark beauty.

But elk-warning signs along the sparsely populated Vantage grade? That was a new one and, clearly, it was time to investigate and write again about doings along I-90. And it’s turned out to be an interesting tale.

Two experts from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife – Steven Wetzel, wildlife conflict specialist in Ellensburg, and Madonna Luers, public information officer in Spokane – explained what’s going on. City girl that I am, I had no idea there were many large herds of elk in the state and thought that whatever elk there were would be found in wooded, mountainous areas.

Elk are primarily a prairie species, Luers told me. They are grazers and favor eating grass. The deer that we’re used to seeing in Spokane are browsers and eat a greater variety of vegetation. We usually see deer in small groups, seldom more than four at a time. Elk, however, travel in herds, so when they move about, it’s not uncommon to see them in groups of 20, 40, 50 or more – so when they cross a road, any road, it’s a pretty big public safety issue, especially when traffic is zipping along at 70 mph.

Wetzel normally works on mitigating damage done by wildlife to crops or livestock, but this year’s situation on the Vantage grade refocused not only his activities, but also that of many others who deal with wildlife, the highways and safety.

By way of background, he explained that the Colockum elk herd, which numbers about 6,000, grazes through north Kittitas and southern Chelan counties. The elk are able to break through snow to reach grasses below, but when the snow is deep and crusted over, some of the Colockum herd move down to the slopes of the Columbia River and into the U.S. military’s Yakima Training Center. The heavy snows this December made this winter into one of those large migratory years – and crossing I-90 along the Vantage grade has been the chosen route.

“Since December there have been 67 elk in collisions with vehicles on the Vantage grade, mostly in the westbound lanes as the elk are moving from north to south,” Wetzel said. Most of the collisions have not caused injuries to drivers, though they’ve been tough for the elk. Wetzel added most of the elk-auto collisions occurred during the nighttime in December and early January.

There is a large median area between the east- and westbound lanes that also attracts the elk. Much of that area has experienced fire in recent years, and the new fresh grasses growing there are apparently quite tasty. The Department of Fish and Wildlife along with master hunter volunteers spent about 200-300 hours installing eight miles of three-dimensional fencing with the aim of stopping the elk from loitering in the median. And of course, the Kittitas County Sheriff’s Office and others have been involved with the elk project, and it was the Department of Transportation that put up the warning signs.

Wetzel said they work every day to keep elk from crossing the freeway, and several times I-90 had to be closed in both directions and a helicopter brought in to help move off large groups of elk that wandered onto the road and median areas. He estimated that about 500 elk have crossed to the lower grazing areas this winter.

But now that the snow has mostly melted, the elk are heading back to higher ground and are crossing again from south to north. The fences are being taken down – “we don’t want to trap them from being able to return,” Wetzel said – and it is expected that as the grasses start greening up on the higher plateaus, the public safety issue of elk along I-90 in the Vantage grade should be largely over by mid-March.

It’s been a couple of weeks since there’s been an elk collision in the area.

I had no idea this issue even existed. I had no idea about the migratory habits of elk and just how much work it takes to keep the public, the elk (and other animals), livestock and crops safe. I just saw a glimpse driving across our beautiful state. There’s a lot to see and learn along I-90 if you’re open to it.

Oh, and the answer to the question of why elk cross the road is the same as it always is, no matter what animal is featured in the inquiry. To get to the other side, of course.

Voices correspondent Stefanie Pettit can be reached by email at upwindsailor@ comcast.net. Previous columns are available at spokesman.com/ columnists.