Washington State's Oak Creek Wildlife Area, established in 1939, has 94,718 acres of sparsely timbered, grassland foothills near the Tieton and Naches Rivers. It's the winter range for the Yakima elk herd, which has about 12,000 animals. These elk live in higher mountain areas during the summer, but in winter they move into lower foothills where snow hasn't covered their food supply. As many as 8,000 elk gather at Oak Creek during winter. Such a dense concentration of elk would eat all the natural grass on the hillsides, so a winter feeding program by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife helps the elk (and bighorn sheep) survive the harsh winters of Eastern Washington State. The feeding area is surrounded by a 100-mile fence to keep these wild elk, who voluntarily come into the feeding area, from damaging nearby fruit orchards. The elk and bighorn sheep are fed between December and March.
The Yakima elk herd is interbred from native Roosevelt elk and 50 Rocky Mountain elk who were brought from Yellowstone and released in Bethel Ridge to bolster Washington State's elk population in 1913-1916. Elk bulls weigh 450-900 pounds, cows weigh 400-650 pounds, and calves are born between late May and early July. Each elk eats 3-10 pounds of hay per day. The bighorn sheep living in the same area are descended from just 6 bighorn sheep who were released into the Oak Creek Wildlife Area in 1967.
A few elk and sheep wear collars or ear tags to identify them for studies of their seasonal body condition (their amount of body fat, indicating adequate nutrition) and their migration and habitat selection patterns.
Visitors to the Oak Creek Wildlife Area can easily see hundreds of elk from the parking lot. To let visitors see the elk even more closely, truck rides are provided by volunteers into the middle of the elk feeding area.
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