 At a recent Pike County Fiscal Court meeting, Judge Executive Ray Jones and the county commissioners addressed the subject of elk hunting. And to protect the elk herd near Fish Trap Lake in the Middlefield area, the court unanimously voted to close elk hunting in that area. I first and foremost elk hunting was never intended in the Middlefield area. The Army Corps has established an elk restoration area on adjacent property, part of the same property. And one of the greatest tourism potentials we have in eastern Kentucky is the elk, elk hunting, elk viewing. And this property is used for a lot of other purposes. Of course, we have people that go trail rides, people that run dogs, and we wanted to make sure the property wasn't close to all forms of hunting. But with the goal to try to restore the elk herd here in Pike County, we wanted to shut it down for elk hunting purposes. The fiscal court also addressed the subject of professional guides who were hired by hunters to help them locate and harvest elk they have tags for. We had Fish and Wildlife officers make us aware of professional guides that were charging a substantial amount of money to bring people in with the intent to hunt in Middlefield. And Middlefield was never intended to be open for elk hunting, and there was a mistake on the Fish and Wildlife website that showed that it was open. So we wanted to clarify that. We also want to make sure that if there are professional guide services that are charging people thousands of dollars to come and hunt, that they're registered with their Occupational Tax Office, that they're licensed to do business here. Because it's only fair if local businesses have to do it, that people are coming in making a lot of money off of elk hunting are also licensed. And we're going to continue to enforce the ordinance that has been put in place. Firearm season for elk in eastern Kentucky opens this Saturday.