Defenders' Experts
Feeding Program Threatens Elk and Ecosystem
Artificial winter feeding of elk on the National Elk Refuge is leading to the spread of disease and overbrowsing of native vegetation on one of the nation's oldest wildlife refuges.
Going to Court to Restore Health of Elk Refuge Herds
May 3, 2008 - Defenders and 4 other groups are taking the U.S. Department of the Interior to court over its decision to continue the harmful artificial feeding of elk on the National Elk Refuge in Wyoming.
History
The National Elk Refuge was created in Jackson Hole,
Wyoming in 1912 to host the
Jackson elk herd as they migrated
down from higher elevations to the valley each winter. Unfortunately, the
historic elk migration routes had been interrupted by increased human
development, livestock grazing, and countless miles of fencing. Because the elk
could no longer reach their preferred winter grasslands, the refuge was
established and a feeding program was begun to guarantee the elk herd's survival
through the winter. Today, the refuge includes approximately 25,000 acres and
about 7,000 elk have wintered on the refuge in recent years.
Elk from the Jackson Hole elk herd have been used to reintroduce elk populations across the country. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), the migration of the Jackson Hole Elk is the longest herd migration of elk in the lower U.S. and it is the world's largest wintering concentration of elk, which is clearly of both national and international significance.
The Threat: Feeding program leads to overcrowding
While the hay and alfalfa feeding program may have begun with
good intentions, continual feeding for nearly a century has created serious
problems for the elk herd, other plants and wildlife on the refuge, area
livestock, and could lead to harmful impacts on humans.
The feeding program supports a highly unnatural and unhealthy density of elk on the refuge each winter, many of whom wallow in a mixture of feces, urine, and dirty snow. At such concentrations, disease can spread rapidly through the herd, including hoof rot which cripples significant number of animals today. The refuge elk population has one of the highest rates of brucellosis, a disease that causes females to abort their fetuses, of any wild elk herd and is also at increased risk of chronic wasting disease and tuberculosis. All of these diseases also pose a threat to surrounding bison and domestic livestock herds and ultimately to humans in the Jackson Hole area. In fact, in 2003 and 2004, the Wyoming cattle industry lost its "brucellosis-free" certification due to infected cattle that are thought to have contracted the infection from wild elk.
The high elk concentration on the refuge has led to overgrazing of aspen, cottonwood and willow trees. There is hardly any woody vegetation left on the refuge, reducing habitat for other wildlife that the refuge supports throughout the year. The impacts of maintaining such an unnatural and unhealthy density of elk on the refuge will have consequences that will be felt throughout the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem.
Missed opportunity to act
Under a 1998 order from a federal court, the Fish and Wildlife Service was required to evaluate the feeding program and the management of the refuge as a whole. After a six-year planning process, the final management plan for the National Elk Refuge, issued in 2007, calls for continuing the feeding program. In the plan, FWS calls for "adaptive management" to reduce reliance on winter feeding but doesn't take any real steps toward decreasing elk concentrations and restoring native vegetation on the refuge.
Recommendations
Defenders of Wildlife,
along with Idaho Fish and Game Department and the Montana Department of Fish,
Wildlife, and Parks as well as the federal Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service
(APHIS) and numerous other conservation groups including the Greater Yellowstone
Coalition, Jackson Hole Alliance, and Wyoming Outdoor Council, recommend against
continuing the feeding program.
Management of the elk herd on the refuge should include the following principles:
- Disperse elk and bison by restoring historical winter rangeland habitat and migration routes and working to protect existing migration corridors between seasonal ranges.
- Phase out feeding in the shortest possible timeframe. Firm, defined targets for timeframe and herd numbers are necessary in order for land managers and the public to gauge progress. Herd numbers should be based on the carrying capacity of the range and population viability, just as with any other wildlife management plan.
- Stop vaccinating elk. The state is vaccinating elk for brucellosis with an ineffective vaccine never intended for use in elk. Relying on an ineffective vaccine for one disease is not sound wildlife disease management. A comprehensive program that disperses elk and restores a healthy range would be much more effective in controlling the spread of disease.
- Help local livestock owners co-exist with free-ranging big game by assisting in costs and construction of elk-proof fences to protect haystacks and livestock winter feeding areas.
Learn more
Press Release: Groups seek to restore health of Elk Refuge herds (6/3/2008)
Court Case: Bison and Elk Refuge Management Plan
Information about the feeding program at National Elk Refuge from the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance.
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