In a place where no elk have fallen at the hands of man for almost a century, hunters killed 16 of them in 2007 with bows, muzzleloaders and shotguns. More importantly, the hunters’ presence has encouraged another 1,500 elk to give the grass in the area a needed break.

	Given the chance, hunters will scatter elk to under-used winter range, giving forage on the refuge a break. Photo by Mark Gocke

The South Unit of the National Elk Refuge in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, has been a sanctuary for wildlife since its creation in 1912. This year, however, refuge biologists launched a limited-range-weapons cow hunt they say has succeeded in reducing by half the number of elk that loiter there.

“We want elk to use traditionally underutilized winter forage on surrounding public lands and save the forage on the elk refuge for those critical winter months,” says Steve Kallin, National Elk Refuge manager.

Every fall, elk rush past a thin line of hunters in Grand Teton National Park and the refuge’s North Unit to hover in safety on the South Unit until feeding begins, usually in late January. With development swallowing up much of their traditional winter range, 7,500 elk pack like sardines onto three feeding areas. The elk depend on these areas, but placing them shoulder-to-shoulder risks creating a Petri dish for brucellosis, bovine tuberculosis and other pathogens, and agencies are looking for alternatives.
“We’re very interested in ultimately reducing the amount of time elk are concentrated on winter feedgrounds, because the elk are more vulnerable to spreading diseases in a concentrated condition,” says Kallin.

Increasing natural forage on the refuge through irrigation improvements and reducing the elk and bison herds are other facets of the Refuge’s new plan. Managers hope to cut wintering elk from 7,500 to 5,000 and bison from 1,000 to 500, primarily through hunting. Hunters shot 222 bison on the refuge this year and an additional 98 elk on its North Unit.

“We are directed by Congress to allow and encourage hunting when we can use it to achieve management objectives,” says Kallin.

Managers have walked a tightrope between competing public interests. Pro-feeding groups fear massive elk starvation, livestock conflicts and reduced hunting, while anti-feeding groups stress the ecological impact of overpopulation and the risk of disease outbreak. The new management plan reduces winter feeding only if elk numbers are maintained. It does not address protecting or improving other potential winter range, although the Elk Foundation is hard at work on that front. Since 1994, the foundation has contributed more than $50,000 to irrigation projects on the refuge as well as numerous habitat enhancement projects, land acquisitions and easements designed to improve the availability of elk winter range in surrounding areas.