 With forward pay from Appalachian Wireless, you'll avoid contracts and credit checks while taking advantage of some awesome perks like unlimited talk text and 3 gigs of data for just $44.99 or with 5 gigs for a mere $59.99. Forward pay. That's today's Appalachian Wireless. In the past several years, signs warning motorists to be on the lookout for elk near the roadway in eastern Kentucky have become more common. In fact, the speed at which Kentucky's new elk herd has grown has been a surprise to everyone. This is much better than anyone could ever imagine. I mean, they didn't imagine that they was going to take off. They was going to be so big. Nearly 20 years ago, Governor Paul Patton released the first seven elk in front of nearly 4,000 spectators in Perry County. Over the next few years, several hundred more were released in eastern Kentucky with two-thirds of them coming from Utah. And now that number is over 10,000. We have the biggest herd east of the Mississippi. And as long as we continue to practice good conservation, it'll maintain itself. Back in the late 90s, when Kentucky first began reintroducing elk, neighboring states were against the project. In fact, officials in Virginia encouraged residents to shoot any elk from Kentucky that crossed the state line. But that was before anyone knew how a successful elk herd could boost the local economy. And all our surrounding states have now come to us, listen, we want elk like you got. I mean, everybody wants to come to Kentucky. We want them to come to West Virginia, Missouri. In fact, West Virginia and Kentucky officials are working to finalize plans to reintroduce elk into a seven-county region in southern West Virginia. Reporting in Pike County for EKB News, I'm Shannon Deskins.