ELKS MAY GET MORE ROOM TO ROAM AT U.S. PARK : OPPONENTS OF EXPANDED RANGE FEAR COLLISION OF HUMANS, BEASTS.

Byline: Donna Horowitz San Francisco Examiner 

Every fall during rutting season, tule elk bulls strut their stuff. With their imposing rack of antlers and whistle-like bugling, the dominant males stakeout their territory and guard their harems of 30 or so females.

``When they bugle, it really gives you an example of the wildness of Tomales Point,'' says Don Neubacher, park superintendent. ``It's an experience you can carry throughout your lifetime.''

The elk have grazed in the park for thousands of years. Now, Point Reyes National Seashore officials are hoping to bring back the flavor of the past by extending their range - and eventually allowing them to roam free over 50,000 acres of the southern portion of the park.

``People will actually get a chance to see what Point Reyes looked like before the Americans arrived,'' said Bruce Keegan, secretary of the Committee for the Preservation of the Tule Elk.

Under the plan, 30-35 elk from the herd at Tomales Point will first be introduced to a section farther south in the Limantour area. Some of them will be injected with a cutting-edge single-shot animal contraceptive now being developed to control the population.

Strong comeback

The elk herd, numbering just 10 when reintroduced in 1978 to Tomales Point, has grown to 380. About 100 calves are expected this spring. Neubacher and other experts are worried that the 2,600-acre fenced preserve is nearing or exceeding its capacity for tule elk.

The contraceptive idea is already winning support from animal rights activists who successfully battled park officials' plan five years ago to cull the herd by shooting the elk.

But the push to give the animals free range in the southern portion of the park has not been universally hailed.

Department of Fish and Game officials are worried that the elk - which range in size from 400 to 800 pounds - will eat livestock feed on nearby ranches or wander out onto the road and cause accidents.

``We've moved about 1,000 tule elk throughout California,'' said Terry Mansfield, chief of wildlife management with Fish and Game. ``What we've learned is that even though you may have a suitable site, often the elk don't realize that, and they don't stay where you put them.''

In other parts of the state with elk populations, he said, there have been property damage and auto accidents involving the animals.

``In a worse-case scenario, elk could spread out and go inland,'' Mansfield said. ``Can you imagine the commuter traffic if they were on the middle of the Golden GateBridge?''

Boyd Stewart, a cattle rancher in the Olema Valley, predicted the elk would ``be over everything and into everything and breaking fences.''

Troubles ahead?

Stewart, 94, whose daughter and granddaughter run 250 head of cattle on the family ranch, said they were already having trouble with two species of exotic deer that broke down the fences.

Fish and Game is also worried that the elk might spread Johne's disease - a sometimes fatal illness in animals that causes diarrhea and wasting away - to other parts of the park.

Neubacher believes elk migration outside the park, and especially out of West Marin, is unlikely.

``I think it's very unrealistic to assume they'll be on the Golden Gate Bridge because of the large distance in between and their natural instinct to stay away from human populations,'' Neubacher said.

If the elk do leave the park, Neubacher said, ``we would recapture them and bring them back.''

He said the Park Service had had no problem with cars and elk at the Tomales Point preserve, through which 300,000 visitors drive each year.

As for Johne's disease, Neubacher said the elk to be moved would be tested for the illness, which is contracted from cow pastures. Any elk with the disease won't be relocated.

Complicating the issue is a disagreement over who has authority over the elk. Fish and Game officials say they have jurisdiction overall wild resident mammals in the state; Neubacher said the national park system had authority in the National Park. He cited a case in which the U.S. Supreme Court sided with the federal government in a dispute over wild horses in another state.

Neubacher said he planned to meet this week with Mansfield to draft an agreement between the two agencies that would set outjoint goals for managing the tule elk. Under the plan, the tule elk moved to the new 400-acre fenced area at Limantour would be fitted with radio collars so park officials and researchers could keep track of them. After a year or so, the fence would be removed, and they'd be allowed to roam over the entire southern end of the seashore.

The contraceptive program, which will include relocation and monitoring of the elk for three years, will cost $50,000 to $100,000. Neubacher has about $30,000 for the program so far.

Before they proceed, park officials are seeking community consensus. A public hearing will beheld May 17 before the advisory commission to the Point Reyes National Seashore.

Elk history

Tule elk, once abundant in grasslands in the Central Valley and along the California coast, were hunted to near extinction by1860. A final pair was discovered after the draining of tule marshes on a ranch near Button willow in 1874-75. A cattle baron ordered the elk to be protected, and they did so well they outgrew their habitat.

During 1914 and 1915, 145 elk were transplanted to 19 sites in the state. As their numbers grew, cattle ranchers complained of damage. Fish and Game allowed hunts to thin the herds. Finally, the Committee for the Preservation of the Tule Elk formed to lobby for the elk's survival.

Today, about 3,000 tule elk live in 22 herds in the state.

``It's a tremendous rush to see them,'' said Keegan, of the preservation committee. ``People are thrilled to see these beautiful animals, especially something as big as these so close to a metropolis.''