Article on Elk Disturbance in Steamboat

[Deleted member 28227]

"Routt County can choose our future. We can do comprehensive landscape-level recreation planning to protect our roadless and wild areas for future generations, and set a model for the entire Rocky Mountain west. Or we can witness the continuing loss of wildlife and wild places in Routt County."

Guest commentary — Keeping Routt Wild: when is enough enough?

We are blessed to live in Routt County, home of the Yampa River, Routt National Forest, Park Range, and the Flat Tops, Sarvis, and Mount Zirkel Wilderness areas. For many people, this is why we…

www.steamboatpilot.com

 

[vanish]

I just get grey lines

 

[MTelkHuntress]

"The impact of human development and recreation on Colorado’s elk herds has been a topic of intense interest in recent years. The Roaring Fork and Eagle valleys elk herds have experienced a 50% reduction in their population since around the year 2000, much of it credited to increased human recreation. “It’s not like these elk walked up and over another hill to another unit,” says former CPW biologist Bill Andree. “They just don’t exist anymore. They’re dead.”"

Jeez. I lived in Steamboat for a summer a couple years ago. I always found it interesting when talking to people, specifically mountain bikers, who thought that just because they didn't hunt that they weren't hurting wildlife. I really hope they choose to address these issues such as habitat fragmentation.

 

[rogerthat]

Loving the public lands to death…quite literally

 

[Deleted member 28227]

"The impact of human development and recreation on Colorado’s elk herds has been a topic of intense interest in recent years. The Roaring Fork and Eagle valleys elk herds have experienced a 50% reduction in their population since around the year 2000, much of it credited to increased human recreation. “It’s not like these elk walked up and over another hill to another unit,” says former CPW biologist Bill Andree. “They just don’t exist anymore. They’re dead.”"

Jeez. I lived in Steamboat for a summer a couple years ago. I always found it interesting when talking to people, specifically mountain bikers, who thought that just because they didn't hunt that they weren't hurting wildlife. I really hope they choose to address these issues such as habitat fragmentation.

I think the issue extends beyond the non-consumptive community.

When I was in HS and College there was a big push in my community to add wilderness restrictions to bunch of spots, the movement was called "Hidden Gems". The local hunting community threw an absolutely shit fit about closing down 4wheeler access. Seemingly everyone who hunted had an anti-hidden gems sticker on their truck. Mountain bikers piled on because of a couple of trails.

2006 ->2022 the Eagle county elk herd has absolutely tanked. I wonder if some folks want to rethink their opposition. I know at least 3 members on this forum who still have this sticker on their vehicles.

Eagle County trails group backs most of Hidden Gems Wilderness proposal

EAGLE - A committee that advises Eagle County officials on trails has weighed in on Hidden Gems.The ECO Trails Committee recently endorsed 88 percent of the proposed wilderness areas

www.summitdaily.com

 

[CycleFishHunt]

I think the issue extends beyond the non-consumptive community.

When I was in HS and College there was a big push in my community to add wilderness restrictions to bunch of spots, the movement was called "Hidden Gems". The local hunting community threw an absolutely shit fit about closing down 4wheeler access. Seemingly everyone who hunted had an anti-hidden gems sticker on their truck. Mountain bikers piled on because of a couple of trails.

2006 ->2022 the Eagle county elk herd has absolutely tanked. I wonder if some folks want to rethink their opposition. I know at least 3 members on this forum who still have this sticker on their vehicles.

View attachment 218214

Eagle County trails group backs most of Hidden Gems Wilderness proposal

EAGLE - A committee that advises Eagle County officials on trails has weighed in on Hidden Gems.The ECO Trails Committee recently endorsed 88 percent of the proposed wilderness areas

www.summitdaily.com

Different place and time, but this seems to belie the polling that says “The county needs to balance recreation use and conservation of public lands,” was the top choice of 925 respondents to the question. Last place? “Recreation is more important than conservation.”

 

[elkduds]

Guest commentary — Keeping Routt Wild: when is enough enough?

We are blessed to live in Routt County, home of the Yampa River, Routt National Forest, Park Range, and the Flat Tops, Sarvis, and Mount Zirkel Wilderness areas. For many people, this is why we…

www.steamboatpilot.com

I read this after reading the ebike thread. That Steamboat elk herd is f^cked. Ditto Vail valley, Roaring Fork/Aspen, Hoosier pass/Breckenridge, Durango . . . Designated wilderness becomes much more important as a haven for wildlife when human development and recreation pushes them away from roads and trails. As the study notes, these impacts are not limited to elk, deer and other wildlife are included.

 

[MTelkHuntress]

The local hunting community threw an absolutely shit fit about closing down 4wheeler access.

What a shame but it's not too surprising that was a response.
Seems like every year I meet someone that complains about not being able to drive a gated road because they don't want to walk.
It's a shame that something really bad has to happen for some change instead of being a bit more proactive. Hopefully the biologist are being listened to on this. Definitely highlights the importance of good research practices.

 

[cedahm]

Thanks for the reminder to make my annual donation to Keep Routt Wild. They are doing good work in the Yampa/Elk valleys.

Designated wilderness becomes much more important as a haven for wildlife when human development and recreation pushes them away from roads and trails. As the study notes, these impacts are not limited to elk, deer and other wildlife are included.

Mt Zirkel WA has to be approaching Indian Peaks as the most visited WA in Colorado. It's staggering. Seedhouse road looks like the South Platte by Deckers all summer.

We used to hunt grouse on Buff Pass. My last male's first limit of Blues came off Buff pass in 2004. By 2009 you felt lucky to see a bird. I haven't hunted there since 2010, but occasionally drive it home and it's amazing how many informal trails and large dispersed campsites have popped up.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Different place and time, but this seems to belie the polling that says “The county needs to balance recreation use and conservation of public lands,” was the top choice of 925 respondents to the question. Last place? “Recreation is more important than conservation.”

Hard for me to look at any one with a straight face that says Eagle county has done any balancing over the last 20 years.

Where has all the wildlife gone: CPW officials cite 50 percent drop in Eagle Valley’s elk population

EAGLE COUNTY — Imagine if, over a 10-year period, half of Eagle County’s human population disappeared.We would be using the terms “drastic,” “alarming” and maybe even “catastrophic” to describe

www.vaildaily.com

There were a lot of op-eds... several town meetings highly polarized public meetings.

Vail Daily letter: Just saying no to wilderness

Why I don't support the Hidden Gems or any new wilderness proposals:From what I've gathered, the Wilderness Society's mission is to acquire as much land as possible. I know

www.vaildaily.com

I will say that in many ways designated wilderness is problematic, because it stymies wildfire and habitat work. It's not a perfect solution to these problems, but it's pretty hard to get the bike/motorized/hunting/hiking/ etc communities to come together and close down access to amenities they ostensibly live and/or moved to that area for.

 

[CycleFishHunt]

There are a whole lotta critters in the woods to account for, but it seems like seasonal restrictions that best balance the needs (migration, mating, feed, etc.) of the most pressured species, and against the needs (wants?) of recreation would be a decent starting point.

I am unaware the degree to which this might already be in place in Routt county, but I know from my time in Boulder that seasonal closures are a thing, and not very controversial as far as I saw. (Although it may not always have been. )

And as MTelkHuntress points out, this also speaks very loudly to the misconceptions that many have about what harms wildlife. It's obviously super easy to understand how a hunter removes an animal from the landscape, but less so a mountain biker, or <insert recreation here>. It feels that talking about game species muddies the waters a bit.

Seems like the groups that represent non-consumptive recreation have some work to do.

 

[nrpate05]

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5bc0c8a0fb18203af9535def/t/62111a56e0a8163324b2f842/1645288026430/Recreational+Disturbance+of+Habitat+in+Medicine+Bow+Routt+National+Forests.pdf

Here is the literature if anyone wants to nerd out. This is a big deal and could have many implications down the line. Perhaps this is an argument to implement a 'backpack' tax? No doubt elk herds in other areas are on the chopping block, these are just areas that have been studied and have had significant recreation for many decades. I think Aspen has been doing some work on this like seasonal closures, etc. but there are certainly violations to these. But when factors are compounded (shrinking winter range due to development, sagebrush habitat reduction, vehicle collisions, people recreating year round 24 hrs a day) it is going to make it tough to help these herds rebound and they likely will never be what they were pre 21st century.

 

[PrairieHunter]

I wonder if it could end up like the hot springs there as far as having to have a reservation to limit access. I know they do that on some of the WMA's here I believe to limit access.

People pay for passes to use public land at some of the popular trailheads already.

That could be the future of hiking, hunting, biking, etc where you have to make a reservation and pay to use a certain public land area much like a campground.

The downside to all this is the more Steamboat has problems and limits access, the more of those people drive to Saratoga.

 

[TOGIE]

sometimes when i look at the "non consumptive" crowd, if you will, i think for half of them it's getting them to realize how much they impact wildlife, and then they absolutely will want help fix the issue. the other half is getting them to give a shit that they do, if they can even be convinced they do, which is unlikely.

i don't have high hopes for this issue.

 

[Irrelevant]

senders aren't into wildlife, there's no stoke in it.

 

[LuketheDog]

sometimes when i look at the "non consumptive" crowd, if you will, i think for half of them it's getting them to realize how much they impact wildlife, and then they absolutely will want help fix the issue. the other half is getting them to give a shit that they do, if they can even be convinced they do, which is unlikely.

i don't have high hopes for this issue.

The assumption I hear from non-hunting, non-wildlife people when the subject comes up is "Won't the animals just move somewhere else?" I try to explain that there are already either people or elk/deer/etc. in that 'somewhere else' spot and it just doesn't work that way, the displaced wildlife will simply cease to exist after a time. The Vail Valley herd is a prime example.

 

[nrpate05]

The assumption I hear from non-hunting, non-wildlife people when the subject comes up is "Won't the animals just move somewhere else?" I try to explain that there are already either people or elk/deer/etc. in that 'somewhere else' spot and it just doesn't work that way, the displaced wildlife will simply cease to exist after a time. The Vail Valley herd is a prime example.

This is a very important point that seems to get glossed over. In some articles I have read on the Vail herd the term "displaced" gets used for what happens to the animals. That makes it seem like the animals just go over the next ridge and everything is good. In reality, these animals are dying and have lost some of their resiliency, as shown by sporadic calf recruitment rates year to year.

 

[HONEYBADGER]

They voted to introduce wolves with elk populations already on the decline? I'm sure that will work out well....

 

[Deleted member 28227]

The assumption I hear from non-hunting, non-wildlife people when the subject comes up is "Won't the animals just move somewhere else?" I try to explain that there are already either people or elk/deer/etc. in that 'somewhere else' spot and it just doesn't work that way, the displaced wildlife will simply cease to exist after a time. The Vail Valley herd is a prime example.

I think this effect is also compounded by shifting baseline syndrome, with massive portions of communities being recent transplants they don't realize that the number of animals they are seeing is 50% of what was there was 10 years ago.

 

[Nameless Range]

Canaries in the coal mine.

It’s happening in other places right now. In some places it’s displacement, and in others like the article referenced, it’s animals simply not being replaced.

It’s the Myth of Superabundance in a recreational sense. Due to a proposed expansion of bike trails in the northern Elkhorns that pissed people off and was abandoned (for now), over the last few years I have engaged with a lot of folks I wouldn’t otherwise, and the attitudes are fairly alarming to me. Part of it is people not wanting to lose their fun, part of it is people in denial or ignorance or disbelief , and though it sounds conspiratorial, in a very real sense, part of it is the Industrialized Recreation contingent.

Not an easy problem to solve. But I believe the Elkhorn Mountains, or at least the spirit behind the nation’s only Wildlife Management Unit within the USFS system, could be a good model to follow. It’s not wilderness or the prohibition of wild fire suppression or habitat improvement, but an understanding and potentially a designation, where all agencies involved in management of a geographic area - from the state to the feds - emphasize wildlife as the chief consideration. Public lands are managed for many things, and one use doesn't prohibit the other necessarily, but I think good things can happen when wildlife are given primacy.