The people of Gearhart can surely relate to the words of Herman Biederbeck.

Thats the reality of elk: Theyre wonderful, magnificent animals, said Biederbeck, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlifes wildlife biologist for the North Coast district. But they have some price tags attached to them they are an economic liability for many people.

Biederbeck spoke as part of a six-person panel that discussed the ubiquitous herd of Roosevelt elk that frequently visits Gearhart. More than 50 Gearhart residents attended the meeting Tuesday night.

Gearhart City Administrator Chad Sweet moderated the town hall-style panel discussion, which he called an experiment were doing to discuss elk.

Sweet asked all those gathered at the Gearhart Fire Hall to maintain civility, and the crowd obliged during the two-hour town hall meeting.

There are no villains here, Sweet said. Were here to have a conversation.

The panel consisted of Jon Wickersham, from the North Coast Land Conservancy; Forest Goodling, superintendent of Gearhart Golf Links; Matt Brown, the head professional at Highlands Golf Club; Jason Bangild, general manager and director of golf at Gearhart Golf Links; Biederbeck; and Joe Warwick, a sergeant in Astorias fish and wildlife division of the Oregon State Police.

Because of their expertise on dealing with local wildlife, most of the evenings questions were directed toward Biederbeck and, to a lesser extent, Warwick.

Goodling, who said the elk in Gearhart had grown bolder, more brazen (and) a little less afraid, began the discussion with a straightforward question for Biederbeck: Do you have any solutions?

Biederbeck understood Goodlings urgency on the issue, but the wildlife biologist tried to offer a big-picture view of the elk situation on the North Coast.

Ive dealt with elk issues for the better part of 30 years, Biederbeck said, acknowledging that it was hard to predict precisely what a herd of elk would do. With elk, its all over the board here. Its a struggle.

Brown and Goodling had previously met with Sweet and Gearhart Mayor Dianne Widdop to discuss possible plans for the elk, and they agreed that relocating at least part of the herd was the best-case scenario.

But Biederbeck explained that relocation is difficult because it can be expensive and, more importantly, there are no viable relocation spots for North Coast elk.

In Oregon, all of our habitat that can hold Roosevelt elk is occupied, Biederbeck said. … We have no place to relocate them, other than just dumping them out on top of other elk, and thats biologically and ethically Im not sure people would support that just dumping them somewhere.

Biederbeck said that relocating the elk to other managed land in the state like state forest or privately held timberland would simply pass the buck, so to speak, to another landowner with little interest in managing an elk herd. 

 There are economic liability issues, just like you guys incur from the elk, he said. What youd be doing is essentially trading an economic liability from one area and putting it in another and giving it to somebody else.

The discussion of relocation quickly turned to possibly increasing hunting tags in the area something the city of Warrenton has discussed with Biederbeck and ODFW which Warwick addressed.

(Gearhart) is dense enough that … in my opinion, its not an area where lethal culling of the herd is viable, Warwick said, adding that he felt hunting in a town as small as Gearhart posed more safety risk than the elk themselves. Hunting is not a safe, viable and justifiable option.

Biederbeck has dealt with numerous golf courses attempting to coexist with the so-called Clatsop Plains elk the name Biederbeck gave the elk herd that roams east of U.S. Highway 101 from the Columbia River south to Seaside, which number 200 to 300, all told; in fact, Biederbeck was in Gearhart 21 years ago to discuss elk damage to Highlands.

In his experience, Biederbeck has found only one true, long-term deterrent to roaming herds of elk and it wasnt a solution the representatives from the golf courses wanted to hear.

The ultimate solution in almost every case is to put a physical barrier between the elk and what it wants, he said. Golf courses are an attractive nuisance for the elk.

Brown said that, in previous years, the elk were more manageable: The herd was only 20 or 30 large, not upward of 70.

We have gotten a lot of damage to the golf course over the last two years, Brown said, noting that, for him, safety is the No. 1 factor.

Unfortunately, for those who would like to see the elk leave, Biederbeck said, theyve taken a liking to Gearhart, and they are creatures of habit.

If you dont want elk on your property, you have to have a zero-tolerance policy, Biederbeck said.

Once elk feel welcome, Biederbeck said, they will hang around.

Elk go where they can find the best groceries a long as theyre tolerated there, Biederbeck said, noting that the groceries in Gearhart have been good.

Elk need consistent behavior from humans to achieve desired behaviors, he said, and, as a show of hands proved, in a community like Gearhart, we have people who love elk and people who hate elk.

Members of the Gearhart community were there to prove Biederbeck right, and they offered plenty of ideas: elk birth control possible, with a bio-bullet, but costly and tricky, Biederbeck said; killing 50 elk a year and donating the meat to the food bank; introducing elks natural predators black bears, mountain lions and wolves into Gearhart; offering scholarships for college students to devise more practical birth control methods; and increased signage and information for residents and visitors, to name a few.

Gearhart City Councilor Sue Lorain proposed the increased information and signage, which Biederbeck said he and the city had already discussed.

Adding information and signage on the elk herd sounded like a good first step, Biederbeck said, much like the town hall meeting itself.

What weve done here is taken a snapshot, Biederbeck said.

Neal Maine, noted nature photographer and founder of the North Coast Land Conservancy, had the last word, which seemed fitting.

Common ground is really the only solution we cant fight it out on Cottage (Avenue), Maine said, drawing laughter from the crowd.

I think this is the beginning, not the end.