News Release from the
NORTHERN YELLOWSTONE COOPERATIVE WILDLIFE WORKING GROUP
INFORMATION FOR THE MEDIA CONTACTS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife, & Parks: Tom Lemke, 406/222-0102; National Park Service: P.J. White, 307/344-2442; U.S. Forest Service: Dan Tyers, 406/848-7375; U.S. Geological Survey-Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center: Peter Gogan, 406/994-6989
January 6 , 2004 04-01
2003-2004 WINTER COUNT OF NORTHERN YELLOWSTONE ELK
The Northern Yellowstone Cooperative Wildlife Working Group conducted its annual winter survey of the northern Yellowstone elk population on December 18, 2003. A total of 8,335 elk were counted during relatively good survey conditions. Approximately 75 percent of the observed elk were located within Yellowstone National Park, while 25 percent were located north of the park boundary. Biologists used four fixed-wing aircraft to count elk through the entire northern range during the 1-day survey. The northern Yellowstone elk herd winters between the northeast entrance of Yellowstone National Park and Dome Mountain/Dailey Lake in the Paradise Valley.
This year's count of 8,335 elk was below the 9,215 elk counted during December 2002. The long-term trend in counts of northern Yellowstone elk suggests that their abundance has decreased at an average rate of approximately six percent per year since 1994. Yellowstone National Park wildlife biologist P.J. White said that "predation by wolves and other large carnivores, and human harvests during the Gardiner area late season hunt, have been the primary factors contributing to the decreasing abundance of northern Yellowstone elk since the mid 1990s." Other factors that have contributed to decreased elk abundance include a substantial winter-kill owing to severe snow pack during 1997 and, possibly, drought-related effects on pregnancy and calf survival.
The Gardiner late season elk hunt was designed to reduce elk abundance outside Yellowstone National Park so that elk numbers do not cause long-term changes in plant communities or decrease the quality of the winter range. Tom Lemke, biologist for Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks, indicated that "as total elk numbers and elk migrations outside of the park have declined in recent years, we have continued to incrementally reduce the number of antlerless elk permits for the Gardiner Late Season Elk Hunt from 2,880 in 1997 to 1,400 in 2004." Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks will continue to use an adaptive harvest management approach to set biologically based permit levels. Lemke predicted that "based on current trends in the size of the elk population and low elk recruitment rates, elk permit numbers and the late season harvests will likely remain at conservative levels for the next several years." The Gardiner Late Season elk harvest has decreased from 2,365 elk in 1997 to 718 elk in 2003. Lemke added, "Most hunters clearly understand that fewer elk on the ground will translate into reduced hunting opportunities ... that's how the system is designed to work."
The Working Group will continue to monitor trends of the northern Yellowstone elk population and evaluate the relative contribution of various components of mortality, including predation, environmental factors, and hunting. The Working Group was formed in 1983 to cooperatively preserve and protect the long-term integrity of the northern Yellowstone winter range for wildlife species by increasing our scientific knowledge of the species and their habitats, promoting prudent land management activities, and encouraging an interagency approach to answering questions and solving problems. The Working Group is comprised of resource managers and biologists from the Montana Fish, Wildlife, & Parks, National Park Service (Yellowstone National Park), U.S. Forest Service (Gallatin National Forest), and U.S. Geological Survey-Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center, Bozeman.
seems like an I told you so is in order for the wolf lovers
NORTHERN YELLOWSTONE COOPERATIVE WILDLIFE WORKING GROUP
INFORMATION FOR THE MEDIA CONTACTS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife, & Parks: Tom Lemke, 406/222-0102; National Park Service: P.J. White, 307/344-2442; U.S. Forest Service: Dan Tyers, 406/848-7375; U.S. Geological Survey-Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center: Peter Gogan, 406/994-6989
January 6 , 2004 04-01
2003-2004 WINTER COUNT OF NORTHERN YELLOWSTONE ELK
The Northern Yellowstone Cooperative Wildlife Working Group conducted its annual winter survey of the northern Yellowstone elk population on December 18, 2003. A total of 8,335 elk were counted during relatively good survey conditions. Approximately 75 percent of the observed elk were located within Yellowstone National Park, while 25 percent were located north of the park boundary. Biologists used four fixed-wing aircraft to count elk through the entire northern range during the 1-day survey. The northern Yellowstone elk herd winters between the northeast entrance of Yellowstone National Park and Dome Mountain/Dailey Lake in the Paradise Valley.
This year's count of 8,335 elk was below the 9,215 elk counted during December 2002. The long-term trend in counts of northern Yellowstone elk suggests that their abundance has decreased at an average rate of approximately six percent per year since 1994. Yellowstone National Park wildlife biologist P.J. White said that "predation by wolves and other large carnivores, and human harvests during the Gardiner area late season hunt, have been the primary factors contributing to the decreasing abundance of northern Yellowstone elk since the mid 1990s." Other factors that have contributed to decreased elk abundance include a substantial winter-kill owing to severe snow pack during 1997 and, possibly, drought-related effects on pregnancy and calf survival.
The Gardiner late season elk hunt was designed to reduce elk abundance outside Yellowstone National Park so that elk numbers do not cause long-term changes in plant communities or decrease the quality of the winter range. Tom Lemke, biologist for Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks, indicated that "as total elk numbers and elk migrations outside of the park have declined in recent years, we have continued to incrementally reduce the number of antlerless elk permits for the Gardiner Late Season Elk Hunt from 2,880 in 1997 to 1,400 in 2004." Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks will continue to use an adaptive harvest management approach to set biologically based permit levels. Lemke predicted that "based on current trends in the size of the elk population and low elk recruitment rates, elk permit numbers and the late season harvests will likely remain at conservative levels for the next several years." The Gardiner Late Season elk harvest has decreased from 2,365 elk in 1997 to 718 elk in 2003. Lemke added, "Most hunters clearly understand that fewer elk on the ground will translate into reduced hunting opportunities ... that's how the system is designed to work."
The Working Group will continue to monitor trends of the northern Yellowstone elk population and evaluate the relative contribution of various components of mortality, including predation, environmental factors, and hunting. The Working Group was formed in 1983 to cooperatively preserve and protect the long-term integrity of the northern Yellowstone winter range for wildlife species by increasing our scientific knowledge of the species and their habitats, promoting prudent land management activities, and encouraging an interagency approach to answering questions and solving problems. The Working Group is comprised of resource managers and biologists from the Montana Fish, Wildlife, & Parks, National Park Service (Yellowstone National Park), U.S. Forest Service (Gallatin National Forest), and U.S. Geological Survey-Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center, Bozeman.
seems like an I told you so is in order for the wolf lovers
