National Park Plans to Cull Its Herd of Elk
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December 27, 2007 12:51 PM
[#1]
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Texas Outdoors
Points:
Y (135)
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M (1)
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The elk population that roams and sometimes rampages through the delicate landscape of Rocky Mountain National Park is out of control and will be reduced through a program that will use sharpshooters to cull the herd, park officials said last week.
The plan, which is expected to receive final approval by the National Park Service next month, would involve killing up to 200 of the animals each year beginning in 2009.
The herd, believed to be descended from a tiny transplant community brought down from Wyoming during World War I, has become a major tourist attraction — and a severe problem for park managers. The animals, which can weigh up to 700 pounds for a full-grown bull, feed on fragile aspen and willow stands. In some places the stands have been devastated by the herd’s growing numbers.
Rocky Mountain National Park, which straddles the Continental Divide and holds the headwaters of the Colorado River, is one of the most heavily used national parks, about 90 minutes northwest of Denver. And the majestic, slow-moving elk, numbering upwards of 3,000 in some past years, have become one of the park’s signature photo opportunities, even as their environmental impact has grown. Park officials say a sustainable population is about 1,600 to 2,100 animals.
But arriving at a population-control solution has been a messy process. Public hearings last year about proposed alternatives, including reintroducing wolves and reintroducing hunting by humans, were fractious and divisive.
A park biologist who led a management study of the elk, Therese Johnson, said in an interview that even with the plan in place, it was still uncertain how many animals might have to be killed in any year.
Ms. Johnson said that for several reasons, the park’s elk population had recently fallen a bit. About 700 were killed by hunters outside the park last year, one of the highest numbers in years. And more of the animals appear to be spending time in forest areas outside park boundaries.
She said that if the trend continued, there might be years when no animals needed to be killed. She also emphasized that the culling program would be scientifically based. The shooting would be done in winter, she said, when there are few visitors, with a goal of mimicking as much as possible how natural predators like wolves would reduce a herd, by taking out the old, the weak and the ill.
“We’re going to be as efficient as possible,” Ms. Johnson said. “This will not be anything like hunting.”
The plan also includes an extensive program of fencing to protect the aspen and willow stands, which have been stunted or halted in their reproduction entirely by the foraging elk and could need 15 years or more to recover, Ms. Johnson said.
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RE: National Park Plans to Cull Its Herd of Elk
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December 27, 2007 01:27 PM
[#2]
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Texas Outdoors
Points:
Y (135)
/
M (1)
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From the Wildlife Management Institute: Park Service Takes Controversial Aim at Elk Overpopulation On December 11, the U.S. National Park Service released the Final Elk and Vegetative Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) in Colorado, reports the Wildlife Management Institute. The plan outlines five different management alternatives designed to address RMNP’s burgeoning elk population and declining native vegetation. Along with a “no-action” alternative, the plan lists four “action” alternatives that incorporate, “adaptive management and monitoring to determine the level and intensity of management actions.” These alternatives are the result of seven years of research and four years of extensive planning by RMNP and U.S. National Park Service staff. Under the plan’s third and “preferred” alternative, park officials would utilize a number of management techniques aimed at reversing the ecological damage caused by the park’s overpopulated elk herd. Specifically, Alternative 3 could rely on “lethal reduction” of as many as 200 elk per year to reduce the population from 1,700 to 2,200 animals to, “the high end of the natural range of variation, between 1,600 and 2,100 elk.” While park staff would administrate the culling, the plan approves the use of “authorized agents” from other federal agencies, volunteers and private contractors. Due to the minimal implementation of lethal reduction in Alternative 3, the plan concedes that additional measures will be required. These include the use of a birth-control agent (Gonacon) on 120 cow elk, fence construction around select aspen and willow stands, and adverse conditioning by means of rubber bullets and firecrackers to keep elk away from certain areas. Interestingly, the preferred alternative also lists a provision for the, “adaptive use of wolves as a management tool.” Projected cost for Alternative 3 would reach $2.1 million in the program’s first year, followed by an annual budget of more than $200,000. Over the course of the program’s suggested 20-year life span, park officials could spend $6 million implementing the plan. Concern about the number of elk in RMNP first arose around 1930 due to the failing conditions of the herd’s winter range as a result of overbrowsing. Because of this, elk populations were controlled from 1944 to 1968. Since then, a lack of natural predators and the loss of migration corridors have enabled a dramatic increase in elk numbers. The resulting overabundant herds have decimated the park’s aspen and willow patches that provide crucial habitat to them and many other wildlife species. The park’s elk management plan has already drawn criticism from the wildlife management community. According to a press release issued by the Colorado Division of Wildlife (CDOW) on December 13, the Colorado Wildlife Commission (Commission) and CDOW stated that park officials should rely on qualified volunteers and not sharpshooters to control RMNP’s overabundant elk. In addition, CDOW and the Commission oppose the use of birth control and wolves to manage elk numbers. In an effort to, “develop a viable alternative to using federal tax dollars to fund government sharpshooters,” the Commission adopted a resolution in July 2006 that supports the use of qualified volunteers as the most viable method of managing elk numbers in RMNP. Congressman Mark Udall and Senator Wayne Allard mirrored the Commission’s view in March 2007 when they introduced federal legislation that would authorize the U.S. National Park Service to use licensed hunters as “qualified individuals” in elk-reduction efforts within RMNP boundaries. In a statement issued on December 11, Representative Udall supported the park’s decision to include “qualified volunteers” in the final elk management plan but was doubtful of the park’s commitment to using them: “I’m concerned the Park Service might give a higher priority to using people from other federal or state agencies. I think if qualified sportsmen or sportswomen are willing to volunteer, they should be first in line.” Commission Chair Tom Burke is similarly skeptical of the park’s commitment to follow through with appropriate implementation of the final elk management plan. “If you read Alternative 3, it merely lists all of the options that park officials could use to manage elk numbers. It fails to define what they are actually going to do.” Burke said the Commission will continue to support the use of qualified volunteers to manage elk numbers in RMNP and to oppose other methods that are inappropriate: “The North American model of wildlife management has always relied on America’s hunters to manage big game populations. We think that should apply to the elk in Rocky Mountain National Park as well.” The U.S. National Park Service will execute a record of decision no sooner than 30 days following the release of the final plan/EIS. To view the final plan/EIS for RMNP, go to http//:www.nps.gov/romo/parkmgmt/elkvegetation.htm. (mcd)
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