Just 100 miles east of where the Fond du Lac Band of Chippewa wants to restore elk in Minnesota, Wisconsin introduced 25 elk from Michigan in May 1995 - the Badger State’s first elk in more than 100 years.

That herd has now grown to about 160 elk in and around the original release area near the tiny town of Clam Lake in southern Ashland County, mostly roaming on Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest land.

Now, Wisconsin is planning to expand its elk population in a big way. Gov. Scott Walker last month announced plans to import up to 150 more elk from Kentucky in the next three to five years.

“We’re trapping in Kentucky right now and those elk should be in Wisconsin by late March or early April,’’ Kevin Wallenfang, deer and elk ecologist for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, told the News Tribune last week.

The animals will be placed in quarantine before being released to make sure they are disease-free.

The first batch of Kentucky elk will be released as a new herd in central Wisconsin’s Jackson County, near the Black River State Forest. The long-term goal is for about 390 elk in that area.

Next year, another 75 or so will be brought up to mingle with the Clam Lake herd, with a long-term goal of reaching 1,400 elk in the area. Officials are hoping that herd spreads out more so the elk are less vulnerable to wolves, but there are no plans for the two herds to overlap.

The Clam Lake herd has been growing much slower than expected, with genetics, habitat and wolves taking their toll.

“Wisconsin got all of their elk from Michigan, which got their elk from one source, and the concern is that they lack the genetic diversity to really thrive. That’s why a new release might help them out,’’ said Mike Schrage, wildlife biologist with the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Resource Management Division. “It’s also why it might be nice to have more than once source if we go forward with this (in Minnesota).”

A decline in logging in the Clam Lake area also has provided less habitat for the elk, which can thrive on grass or woody browse such as aspen saplings.

An increase in wolf numbers in the past 20 years has affected elk survival in Wisconsin. Studies show elk restoration efforts should start with a minimum of 75 animals, both to increase genetic diversity and to withstand predation by wolves and bear.

Of the Wisconsin elk that have died and been found by elk biologists over the past 20 years, 42 percent have been killed by wolves; 16 percent from vehicle collisions and 12 percent from bear attacks, mostly on calves 6 weeks old and younger.