Northwestern Wyoming and nearby Montana and Idaho have long been
known among sportsmen as prime elk hunting habitat (although in
Colorado hunters harvest more elk on a yearly basis). Much of the
Northern Rockies herd is centered in the “Greater Yellowstone
ecosystem,” that is, the three million acres of Yellowstone
National Park, plus six million acres that make up the six national
forests that surround the Park, a total of nine million acres. Elk
migrate out of the Park every fall and winter to forage in the
border zone of national forest and adjacent private land, and here
they are fair game for hunters. This is called the “elk winter
range.”
When elk do this they “herd up” in large numbers even in the
thousands across specific local geographic areas, places where snow
depths aren’t as great as in the Park, or where the range is
frequently snow-free thanks to the Chinook-effect on the east slope
of the Rockies. Typical places are the National Elk Refuge near
Jackson, Wyoming; the southern reaches of Paradise Valley near
Gardiner, Montana; and on vast Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
holdings and private ranchland on those eastern mountain slopes
near Cody, Wyoming.
These herds are easily monitored by federal and state wildlife
management personnel using helicopters in remote areas, or through
simple observation with spotting scopes and binoculars. Each
winter, rough census numbers are compiled, especially the important
“cow/calf” ratios. The cow/calf ratio is the main indicator of the
future stable population and general health of the herd. In recent
years the cow/calf ratio regionwide has dropped from a normal rate
of “33 calves per 100 cows” down to the generally accepted number
for last winter of “14 calves per 100 cows,” according to Scott
McMillion of the Bozeman Chronicle.
Declining elk numbers are fodder for many arguments as to their
cause (drought, severe winters, higher hunting pressure in some
areas), but it seems that the main reason for the decline of
cow/calf ratios since 1995 is the presence of wolves in the Greater
Yellowstone region.
The federally mandated “reintroduction” program that year and
the next brought in 66 transplanted Canadian wolves to the
Yellowstone and central Idaho regions whose numbers have since
grown to an estimated 650 grouped into three dozen separate packs
(200 Yellowstone, 100 Montana, 350 central Idaho). The Yellowstone
bunch has expanded beyond the borders of the Park, and onto the
adjoining federal, state and private lands. Livestock depredation
(another contentious issue, though ranchers are reimbursed for
losses) is not tolerated, and repeat offenders are “removed” (that
is, shot) from the population. In the end, the main food source for
the wolves are the elk, numbering 35,000 in Greater
Yellowstone.
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) may “delist”
the wolves as early as 2003 since their increasing numbers have now
met the federal guidelines under the auspices of the Endangered
Species Act (ESA), and they are to be managed by the aforementioned
states. Montana, Wyoming and Idaho will each have to submit a
management plan for federal approval in the next few months. Doing
so will put great strain on the wildlife management budgets of
those states.
They are all currently suffering budget shortfalls. Montana, for
instance, is running a $57 million deficit, and the legislature
lately is in emergency session to deal with it. Needless to say,
these state wildlife management departments will take hits just
like any other state agency. This at a time when shrinking elk
populations (and moose, deer and bighorn sheep) will make for more
careful big game management, and less incoming revenue from both
resident and non-resident hunting license fees. And then there’s
the economic impact on towns such as Cody, Wyoming, and West
Yellowstone and Livingston, Montana — which have historically
depended on an influx of autumn elk and deer hunters as an
extension to the summer tourist season.
The USFWS, and Playing-God busybody environmentalists and their
lawyers have given us large populations of high maintenance,
top-of-the-food-chain predators, and are now walking away expecting
state wildlife programs and local taxpayers to deal with them. This
as the big game hunting culture of the Northern Rockies goes into
decline. If the Feds and deep pockets enviro organizations love
wolves so much, they should pay for their upkeep. And spare us the
future inevitable lawsuits when the wolves are so numerous that the
three states in question institute hunting seasons on them, to
better control their numbers and discourage the decimation of big
game herds and massive livestock depredation. Put up or shut
up.
The above eco-engineering is only one example of hundreds around
the country of the ESA run amok, and makes a good case for its
reform. If the Republicans retain the House and take back the
Senate, and if President Bush supports the idea, maybe it will
happen.
Other than that, maybe we can rely on the Feds, the Sierra Club,
Defenders of Wildlife et al. to come up with an elk
“reintroduction” program when the population crashes in the coming
years.
The Endangered Species Act will be the death of the American
West.
