[decimon]

This guy's too sensible for this world.

[decimon]

Dab of history ping.

[Artemis Webb]

Any part of the state is the wrong part. Hell why stop with Elk? Let’s get hippos and elephants in the state too so when a car hits them at 65mph the damage will be oh so much more spectacular!

[cripplecreek]

I wish the elk in Michigan would spread in my direction but they seem to like it up north.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

So they are introducing an extirpated species that was never extirpated.

[Clioman]

Maybe downtown St. Louis?

[Anna W]

Shouldn’t the state be MO instead of MU?

[donozark]

The elk will be in the NW two hours after the New Madrid Fault shifts...I’ll be there in twenty three minutes.

[texmexis best]

The MO Conservation Department is really good, the envy of other states. They know what they are doing.

[Graybeard58]

"If we are looking for the best place for elk survival, we should consider why elk were not in the southeastern part of the state in prehistoric times," Lyman said. "If they weren't there previously, why would they survive there now?

I don't know if they would "survive" there now or not but I do know that the land is not the same as it was in "pre historic" times. It's not even the same as it was pre 1811-1812.

It's not even the same as it was pre 1900:

Before a series of large levees were constructed by the federal government to harness the Mississippi River, its flood waters regularly spilled across much of southeast Missouri. The Missouri Bootheel once was a natural basin to catch all of this water, a swamp unsuitable for any kind of habitation.

Soon after the beginning of the 20th century a group of visionaries saw the potential benefits of converting the swamps into an area that would be suitable for habitation. They knew if they drained the swamp the soil beneath the water would be some of the richest soil in the nation for farming.

There had been talk around 1900 about draining the land. Finally, in January 1905 a meeting was called in Cape Giradeau, Missouri to discuss how the project could be completed. At this meeting the ground work was laid for undertaking what soon would become the largest drainage project in the United States. The Little River Drainage District was created. A plan for construction of an elaborate network of drainage ditches, canals, and levees was devised and eventually carried out.

Drainage of the region opened up land for settlements and agricultural and industrial use. Before the land was drained, less than 10% of it was clear of water; now, approximately 96% is clear and water free year around.

http://gideon.k12.mo.us/town/river3.htm

The town where I was born (Morehouse, Missouri, New Madrid County) was swamp prior to the Little River Drainage District, now the entire area is among the richest farm land anywhere.