Washington Elk Colockum Migration Corridors

The Colockum elk herd inhabits a mix of public and private lands northeast of Ellensburg between Blewett Pass of the Cascade Range and west of the Columbia River (fig. 35). The population ranges between 4,000 and 5,000 animals and is partially migratory, with individuals displaying a mix of resident (63 percent of analyzed individuals) and migratory (34 percent of analyzed individuals) behaviors. During winter, many elk inhabit grassland, sagebrush, antelope bitterbrush, and ponderosa pine habitats in the Whiskey Dick, Quilomene, and Colockum Wildlife Areas and the eastern reaches of the Naneum State Forest. As spring green up of vegetation nears, migratory elk travel northwest toward summer ranges in the Wenatchee Mountains, north of Ellensburg. Resident elk inhabit the same areas as wintering migratory elk. Agricultural producers in the eastern Kittitas Valley often experience conflicts with elk consuming hay in fields. Additional concerns for the herd include semipermeable barriers along Interstate 90 and U.S. Highway 97 and disturbance from human recreation on the winter range.
These mapping layers show the location of the Migration corridors for elk (Cervus canadensis) in the Colockum population in Washington. They were developed from 89 migration sequences collected from a sample size of 35 animals comprising GPS locations collected every 3 hours.