WILDILFE -- Efforts by wildlife managers and sportsmen to restore elk in southwestern Washington have been successful enough to raise concerns of landowners who say enough is enough.

The Washington Farm Bureau proposes capping the number of elk in two northwest Washington valleys, where farmers and ranchers say the growing North Cascades herd is damaging crops and fences, and making driving rural highways hazardous, The Capitol Press reports.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has worked for decades to build elk numbers in the North Cascades region.

The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation's Skagit Valley Chapter has worked on elk habitat restoration in the region.

However, the Capital Press reports that Farm Bureau director of government relations Tom Davis said a maximum number would protect property and motorists, goals the Department of Fish and Wildlife says it shares.

“A limit would be the most transparent way to manage the herd and hold the department accountable,” Davis said. “We would prefer zero, but we know we can’t get there. But let’s pick a number, or a range, and argue over that.”