Spring 2012
Conservation partners overlook the future restoration area in Buchanan County—just weeks before the first elk would return to Virginia's mountains.
spring 2012
A Vision Takes Root
After more than 150 years without a native elk population, Virginia's mountains stood on the brink of one of the Commonwealth's greatest wildlife restoration successes.
In 2012, conservation partners, the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources, local landowners, volunteers, and community leaders came together with a shared vision—to return elk to the mountains of Southwest Virginia.
Standing here, overlooking what would soon become the restoration area, they were looking toward something few thought possible: the successful return of a native species that had been absent for generations.
​
Standing on this overlook, few could imagine that within weeks, elk would once again roam these mountains. Everything was ready. One of the Commonwealth's greatest wildlife restoration stories was about to begin.
​