For the fifth consecutive year, about 44,000 acres of state wildlife land east of Ellensburg will be closed to motor vehicles Wednesday through April 30. The closure is meant to protect wintering elk from disturbance, and in turn reduce elk damage to adjacent private lands.
The state Department of Fish and Wildlife will close the Whiskey Dick Wildlife Area and a portion of the Quilomene Wildlife Area in Kittitas County. The area to be closed is north of the Vantage Highway, south of Quilomene Ridge Road, east of the Wild Horse Wind Farm and west of the Columbia River.
Reducing vehicle traffic on the wildlife area may encourage wintering elk to remain on the public land rather than straying to nearby private lands, according to wildlife biologists, said an agency news release. The effectiveness of the seasonal road closure is being evaluated by monitoring the movements of elk equipped with GPS tracking collars.
About 2,000 elk – nearly half the Colockum elk herd – spend the winter on the two areas, according to Southcentral Regional Wildlife Manager Ted Clausing.
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