Last minute effort to stop Elk from LBL fails...

strutandrut

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And, as you would expect, it is the usual suspect...

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http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_123441.asp

Last-Minute Effort to Halt Elk Relocation Fails
Chancellor denies request for injunction
by Richard Simms
posted March 6, 2008

The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency warded off a last-minute effort to halt the relocation of 36 elk from TVA's Land Between the Lake to the Royal Blue Wildlife Management Area.

The relocation of the elk is scheduled for tomorrow, Saturday March 8.

David Autry, an elk farmer from Lexington, Tenn., and Director of the Non-Traditional Farmers and Ranchers Coalition, filed a request for an injunction to halt the effort on Tuesday in a Nashville Chancery Court.

Autry has objected to numerous efforts by TWRA to relocate elk into Tennessee. His concern is Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), a disease similar to Mad Cow Disease that infects deer and elk.

Despite intensive monitoring efforts, no cases of CWD have been documented in Tennessee.

The request for injunction was heard on Wednesday, and denied.

Few details are available regarding the ruling, but the bottomline is that Chancellor Carol Mccoy didn't by the argument presented by Autry and his attorneys and the elk relocation scheduled for tomorrow is still on.

RELEASE DETAILS - OPEN TO PUBLIC

The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) is planning to move 36 elk from U.S. Forest Service's Land Between the Lakes (LBL) in Kentucky to the Royal Blue Wildlife Management Area in Campbell County Tennessee on Saturday, March 8, 2008.

At approximately 10:00 a.m. on Saturday morning, the elk will be released on Royal Blue, which is part of Tennessee's 670,000 acre Elk Restoration Zone. The release location will be on Massengale Mountain where the first elk were released in 2000.

Plans are to load 36 elk on four trailers on Friday and haul them to the release site, where they will be held overnight and released the next morning.

This release is tentative pending results of disease testing of the animals located in the Elk/Bison Prairie at LBL. All the elk located in the Prairie have received a clean bill of health and the results of bison testing should be received by March 1.

The public is invited to come and experience this important event. Viewers should wear footwear appropriate for rough terrain and be prepared to walk some distance.

One of the objectives of LBL elk herd was to provide surplus animals for elk restoration projects. This will be the second time that elk have been transported from LBL to Tennessee.

Of the 36 elk scheduled for release, there are 19 adult bulls, 4 male calves, 9 adult cows, and 4 female calves. All of the elk, except for 5 of the smaller calves, have been fitted with radio collars, so that researchers can follow their progress after release.

Prior to this fifth release, there have been 167 elk released over a four-year period, from 2000-2003, in the restoration zone. Tennessee�s elk herd currently stands at an estimated 200-250 animals.

The project is a joint effort between U.S. Forest Service Land Between the Lakes, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Campbell Outdoor Recreation Association (CORA), the UT Veterinary School, USDA, Animal Plant Health Inspection School (APHIS), LBL Bugle Corp, LBL Association, and TWRA staff and volunteers.

Mr. Gary Cox of Sundowner of Tennessee in Sweetwater contributed to this release by loaning two of the four trailers which will be used to transport the elk. The other two trailers are property of the U.S. Forest Service and TWRA.

The most up to date information about the elk release and a map to the release site will be posted beginning on Monday at www.tnwildlife.org.
 

mike243

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hope he wasted alot of money on lawyers :D may try to fight the weather in the morning & go watch them get turned loose,thanks TWRA,mike243
 

Monty

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Bedford Co.
Re: Last minute effort to stop Elk from LBL fails.

Hope the herd continues to grow so an elk hunt is possible in '09. Tennessee sportsmen deserve the opportunity to compete for a chance to participate in such a historic event. Hopefully, too, the hunt will be a start for raising funds to begin defraying the costs of the program - both past, present, and future.
 

cecil30-30

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I thought something was up.With all the posts about the Elk being released this weekend and no "Autry"..I knew he would have to make an appereance some where.I also hope he wasted alot of money on lawyers.
 

mike243

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cecil me & my brother are headed up there in the morning barring a blizzard :),are you or anybody else going? mike243
 

bowhunter 51

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Mar 20, 2007
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Lauderdale Co. Tennessee
Ya know....This guy Autry....If he, himself wasn't an Elk farmer,
I would believe his concern about this desease but I can't help
but feel that his efforts to stop Elk restoration movement is
more a personal thing to him...I just can't imagine someone put-
ing that much effort into fileing an injunction without some
interest, like perhaps, personal gain, in mind............BH51..
 

Locksley

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Oct 23, 2001
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Location
Antioch TN
InfoMan said:
There was probably 200 people up at the elk release. Weather was blowing snow, much like the first release in 2000. The roads were slick coming out.

Hope the herd continues to grow
 

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