Population 5,000: State of the Elk Refuge

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

By Brigid Mander

Jackson Hole, Wyoming -  From East Jackson, a stretch of grassland opens to the north, under a vast sky, interrupted by low-lying buttes and dominated by the Teton Range in the distance. This sweeping vista is the National Elk Refuge, dotted with thousands of elk in winter, and seemingly pure, undisturbed and unchanging, except with the seasons. 

Despite appearances, the NER is not exactly a vision of nature at its wildest. Behind all this apparent serenity teams of scientists, multiple government agencies and workers, endlessly monitor, support and manage the land and its inhabitants.   

Years of research, observation and intensive study of the elk herd, other wildlife, livestock and habitat encompassing not only the Jackson elk herd but other herds in Wyoming have led to continuing innovations in the way that the elk are managed.

The National Elk Refuge was founded in 1912, as a result of settlers in the valley petitioning the federal government to do something about the elk, which were raiding the ranchers’ hay and suffering from mass starvation.

Reports from the valley even before settlement of large-scale wintertime elk die-offs make biologists today reasonably certain that the elk population has always spiked beyond the land’s capacity, subsequently leading to starvation. Even predation from bears, mountain lions and wolves, whose diet consists of 85 percent elk, wasn’t enough to keep the massive herds from cyclically over-populating and dying. 

From 1909 to 1911, a series of especially severe winters prompted ranchers to petition the state for help in feeding the elk, which marked the beginning of the elk-feeding program in northwestern Wyoming. 

It was probably “a kind of love-hate relationship” speculates Wyoming Game and Fish spokesman Mark Gocke. The settlers likely appreciated the elk herd for its beauty as well as for a resource, but couldn’t eke out a living with the elk eating the food they had gathered for their livestock.

However, from what seemed like a humane and logical solution a century ago has grown into what Wyoming Game and Fish officials term one of the most complex and controversial wildlife management challenges of the 21st century. Continuing challenges range from managing the population and containing disease to the continued need to feed some of the herd to protect the habitat and private property.

Status of the herd
Controlling the population of the Jackson elk herd is the major challenge for Wyoming Game and Fish and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which oversee the NER.

Among the agencies responsible for the feed grounds, it is generally thought that to stop feeding right now would result in bigger problems than currently faced.

“We’re kind of stuck now,” Gocke said. “If we had seen the disease factor coming, we probably wouldn’t have done [the feed grounds]. Now, it might be a bigger problem to stop.”

Concentrating wild animals on feed grounds clearly makes disease transmission more prevalent, but it also keeps the animals away from domestic cattle, which are susceptible to the same diseases, most notably brucellosis. This is the catch-22 that has wildlife officials reluctant to impose any drastic changes in the status quo.

The number set by Game and Fish as a manageable, healthy number for the Jackson elk herd is about 11,000 animals, out of which 45 percent to 65 percent will winter on the refuge. The only tool the agency can use for control is hunting, and Game and Fish sets the seasons and areas according to what will best help accomplish population control, from limited hunts in Grand Teton National Park, nine-weeks on the refuge, and long hunts on National Forest land.

As of last year, the entire elk herd was at about 13,000 animals, according to Eric Cole, NER biologist. In order to control the spread of disease, the target number for animals on the refuge was lowered in 2007 from 7,500 to 5,000 elk.

The elk, however, respond to hunting pressure, and change where they forage and migrate based on the danger. For example, many elk have learned to forage in protected areas of Grand Teton National Park, and when migrating, can make it to the protected areas of the elk refuge, across private land in relatively short periods of time, thus escaping human predation,
according to Gocke.

The Jackson elk herd has been classified as four segments, which summer in different areas: southern Yellowstone, the Teton Wilderness, the Gros Ventre and Grant Teton National Park.

While the elk herd numbers are approaching the target amount at the moment, certain segments are much higher than officials would like, and other segments are lower. This is one of the most challenging management issues, as the animals in national forest land absorb more of the hunter impact than other segments of the herd, and animals in more northern areas are impacted by natural predators more than those in the south of the herd range, where people are.

“There aren’t a lot of grizzlies and wolves in subdivisions,” Cole said.

The parts of the herd that migrate back and forth from national forest areas, such as the Gros Ventre herd segment, have been harvested more by sportsmen, resulting in a decreasing population and more hunter frustrations in these areas. Where hunting is more restricted, such as the national parks and private land, the elk population has increased in a lopsided fashion.

In addition, these elk have discovered migration routes that are safer for them, known to us, of course as private lands.

“We try to work with ranchers and private landowners to allow hunting on private lands,” Gocke said.

Although, the push to open private land has not been as successful as they would like.

Where possible, officials change the length and location of hunts, in order to achieve a more balanced elk harvest. This year, in response to the elk population in the GTNP herd segment, the hunt was extended one extra week, and park officials have reported that the population in the park is steady or even dropping a little, which is the goal.

A hunt was opened on the south end of the refuge in 2007 to address this problem, because too many elk were coming straight to the areas closest to town, typically closed to hunting, after learning that it could be a safe area in the fall. 

In order to bring the refuge numbers down to 5,000, the south hunt was necessary to keep the animals from congregating out of range of hunters.

Hunter success can also be affected by a later migration, such as was seen this year. Relatively mild fall weather allowed elk to find forage without coming down to the refuge, and staying in protected areas during the set hunt dates. This, however, is not a management issue, according to U.S. Fish and Wildlife spokeswoman Lori Iverson, because the elk decide when it is time to migrate.

In 2009, late migration resulted in 72 percent of harvested animals being taken in the last three weeks of the nine-week hunt on the elk refuge.  Numbers from hunters on the NER indicate that the 2009 harvest is the highest it has been in five years.

Complaints about increased wolf activity taking too many elk have been voiced, but according to Iverson, wolf activity does not seem to be having a great effect on the overall elk population. 

“There is not a lot of wolf activity on the refuge beyond elk distribution,” she said.

When wolves are around, the elk will move. However, if natural predators regain their traditional hunting grounds and help control the elk, it seems wildlife officials will be more than happy to have their help.

The feeding debate
Feeding the elk, while it has solved some is- sues, such as the clash of elk with ranchers, eating livestock feed and keeping wild elk more or less separate from cattle herds, has also resulted in serious concerns about disease transmission.
While brucellosis is much talked about, what is more on the minds of biologists is the expected arrival of chronic wasting disease.

While this illness to date has never been detected on the refuge, and is more prevalent in Colorado, it was found last year in a moose in Star Valley, leading biologists to believe it will make its way to the elk herds of Wyoming at some point.

CWD is a fatal neurodegenerative disease caused by prions, infectious proteins lacking DNA. The disease is related to other prion infections thought to cause mad-cow in cattle and Creutzfelt-Jakob in humans.  Methods of transmission are unknown, although it is thought that prions can survive in the environment for long periods of time, and no cures have been found for any strain of prion infection. CWD affects the Cervidae family or cervids (including moose, deer, and elk).

Although transmission methods are unclear, most wildlife officials agree that, like other diseases, animal densities are an issue, such as at feed grounds. CWD has not been found in any animal on the refuge to date, but the impetus behind lowering the number of elk wintering on the refuge is a preventative measure to thin the density and hopefully stave off a catastrophic disease outbreak on the feed ground, according to Cole.

Game and Fish officials are focusing on collecting more samples from hunter kills of deer and elk by removing a lymph node in the neck of animals for testing. Although CWD is not thought to be transmissible to humans, the Center for Disease Control recommends not eating an infected animal.

The other disease
Keeping elk that are infected with brucellosis away from domestic livestock is one of the biggest arguments for continued winter feeding. Brucellosis is a highly contagious infection that can be carried by cattle, elk and bison, causing cows to abort their fetuses. Originally brought to the area by domestic livestock, it has been eradicated from Wyoming cattle herds.  

It is not considered to be devastating to the elk population, but it is devastating to the owners of livestock, and political implications of brucellosis in Wyoming cattle are far-reaching.

The disease can be transmitted to humans through unsterilized dairy or meat products, where symptoms include muscular pain and sweating, treatable with antibiotics. Of great concern to ranchers is the fact that if any domestic Wyoming cattle test positive, the state loses its brucellosis free status, and it becomes extremely difficult to market its meat and other dairy products. Infected animals are usually required to be sent to slaughter to prevent further infection.

In 2007, a major effort was implemented to Jackson Hole spread out the feeding elk, thinning their density and reducing the incidence of brucellosis. Instead kicking the feed off the sleighs in a line, workers now spread it out as much as possible to create lower density feed areas, and to place the feed on clean snow each day. 

This is especially important to stem brucellosis. Elk cows will investigate a fetus on the ground, and lick it, which is a method of transmission. In a recent study by Game and Fish, an aborted fetus on the ground could be visited by as many as 100 cows in 15 minutes in a crowded feeding ground. 

Spreading the feed out as much as possible keeps the elk farther away from each other, and an infected, aborted fetus will be noticed by fewer cows.

The Fish and Wildlife Service is also planning on an update of their current irrigation system, to a much more efficient k-line system, which will irrigate acreage from 900 to almost 5,000 acres without significantly increasing water use. The increased winter forage, adding almost 4,200 acres will also disperse the animals, Iverson said.

Another method, according to Gocke, is to end feeding earlier in the spring, so when brucellosis infected cows abort their pregnancies, they may have already begun to disperse and migrate away from the feed grounds. 

An increased wolf population can also help move the elk to spring ranges by preying on elk at the winter feed grounds, causing them to leave sooner.

Doing what they can
With no acceptable alternative to the feeding program in the near future, Wyoming Game and Fish, as well as U.S. Fish and Wildlife are continually trying to implement methods of spreading the elk out as much as possible, reducing disease transmission along with lower populations in general, and trying to reduce reliance on supplemental feed.

The changes that wildlife officials have undertaken in the last few years are based on the latest research on how to combat the ever-present problems of population control, disease and preservation of habitat. Research at the NER and other elk feed grounds around Western Wyoming is ongoing, and hopefully the next few years will show improved conditions for the Jackson elk population, and the work of the many scientists behind the project will come to fruition with fewer, healthier elk.

photo courtesy Mark Gocke, WGFD


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Population 5,000: State of the Elk Refuge | Planet JH News Article: Cover Stories

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