Elk Restoration
The multimedia piece accompanying my final project for my Capstone (Picture Story and Photographic Essay) class is online. The project was on the human and environmental effects of reintroduced elk in southeastern Kentucky and the state of Missouri’s plan to reintroduce elk to that state as well.
Elk-vehicle accidents
STONEY FORK, Ky. — “No one ever warned us to watch out for elk,” reads a Middlesboro Daily News article reporting Melissa Jones’ 2009 elk-vehicle accident. That’s the feeling of residents in Stoney Fork and other small communities along Highway 221 in Eastern Kentucky, just one of several hotspots in the state for elk-vehicle accidents [...]
Elk Update
SALEM, Mo. — Another grueling day…left at about 5:30 a.m. for the drive down to Peck Ranch to tour the temporary holding pens for the elk scheduled to arrive next week. Did a few more interviews, and got lots of new footage. Also met with a cattle farmer who had some very strong criticisms of [...]
Waiting game
EMINENCE, Mo. — I’m back working on my photo story on elk relocation to Missouri. The herd of Kentucky elk is scheduled to be moved to Peck Ranch Conservation Area in southern Missouri at the end of April. I went down to the ranch and surrounding towns this week to get a pulse on what [...]
Elk extras
Here are just a few more photos that didn’t really fit with my previous posts. This story is not done yet. The herd of elk that will be relocated to Missouri must undergo disease testing and be held for 90 days in Pineville, Ky., before making the journey by trailer to the Show-Me State. We [...]
The Amburgeys
MALLIE, Ky. — People still give William Amburgey a hard time over the giant elk mounted on the wall in his living room. Amburgey’s wife Bernice, one lucky winner in Kentucky’s annual lottery for an elk tag, killed the bull last year on the final day of her seven day hunting window. William said friends [...]
Tony Johnson, Taxidermist
CAMPTON, Ky. — Today we met with Tony Johnson, an award-winning taxidermist, or as his business card reads, wildlife artist, in his workshop. He was actually finishing up work on a deer he started sculpting last night. Johnson says business is down this year compared to last because of the economy. Thirty sets of antlers [...]
A community treasure
VEST, Ky. — Call her crazy, but Genevieve Combs has found something new to do with doo. Elk doo, that is. Last year, Combs started making handmade jewelry out of elk droppings picked up from the field right outside the community center. Never in short supply because of the herds that frequent the area, the [...]
Elk and Coal
PINEVILLE, Ky. — Coal and Elk. Who would have known? As I’ve been told by nearly everyone here, without coal mines, there would be no elk. We all hear so much about the negative effects of strip mining — the complete destruction of ecosystems and terrain from the literal blasting off of mountaintops. No doubt [...]
Elk in Kentucky
HAZARD, Ky. — I’m in heart of Appalachia with Missourian reporter Brian Nordli for a few days to start work on an in-depth story on a huge elk population and its affect on tourism and business in Eastern Kentucky. Way more details to come, these are just some of my first images.