The Animal Kingdom

Well it looks like the Idaho legislature is watering down the already weak legislation which would regulate canned elk-hunting operations.  A proposed amendment would require ranchers to “knowingly” violate state law before the state could revote their license.  Read the Statesman’s article… 

Well it looks like the Idaho legislature is watering down the already weak legislation which would regulate canned elk-hunting operations.  A proposed amendment would require ranchers to “knowingly” violate state law before the state could revoke their license.  Read the Statesman’s article… 

FYI: Pocatello 12 Public TV produced a video entitled “Threat to Idaho Wildlife: Game Farms” awhile back.  As a matter of disclosure - as the title suggests, the video does NOT claim to represent the pro end of this - but it’s an interesting discussion which represents some of the concern I thought some people might be interest in.  The online version is available here. 30 min.

Here’s an ironic one - 

Otter halts IDFG deer kill on Jones’ elk ranch
3/9/2007

Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter on Thursday questioned the Idaho Department of Fish and Game practice of euthanizing wild game that has come into contact with domestic elk, halting an operation on an elk ranch near Blackfoot.

“After reviewing the situation on Thursday the governor directed that all options short of lethal control be considered carefully before any animals are killed,” Otter spokesman Mark Warbis said. “His preference is to explore every other option that preserves the wildlife.”

Perhaps many of you have heard of the WGFDs quick fire-off of the news release below last week.  The argument is that wolves are pushing/disrupting elk off of Wyoming’s large elk feedlots, brought about to entice elk away from cattle in an effort to prevent the spread of Brucellosis from elk to cattle.  We’ve seen Montana use Brucellosis to slaughter and haze buffalo, we’re seeing Wyoming use it to “manage” elk in high-density feed-camps and now we’re seeing it extended to justify inflated antagonism toward wolves.  

The Jackson-Hole News&Guide’s Cory Hatch wrote an article entitled State: Wolves disrupt elk feeding areas on March 7 which includes some biologists’ take on the matter.    

“wolf problems persist at wyoming’s feedgrounds”

Wyoming Game & Fish News

March 5, 2007

CHEYENNE—Wolves have been disrupting the Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s feedground operations in northwest
Wyoming again this winter. In the past several weeks, Game and Fish personnel at feedgrounds have become increasingly frustrated with the wolf activity and their lack of ability to deal with the predators.

(more…)

“Wolves are causing a variety of problems on state elk feedgrounds, from spooking the elk and causing them to move from one area to another to killing work animals,” the Wyoming Game and Fish Department said. From Billings Gazette News Services. Read Article.

The entire premise of the article is wrong. There should not be elk winter feedlots! If the wolves disrupt the operations and chase the elk, so much the better, especially in the Gros Ventre River drainage (disruption may be a problem further south near Pinedale, Wyoming where the elk feedlots are near ranches and roads).

The article mentions that the wolves killed a feeder’s dog as though that was unexpected and terrible. Several weeks ago Ed Bangs sent out a much longer description of the event.

Bangs wrote: On the 23rd [Feb], Jimenez [WY FWS] examined and confirmed that a 8-month old male Catahula hound was killed by wolves on one of the Gros Ventre elk winter feedgrounds near Jackson, WY. The feeders stay at the feedground and had 5 pet hounds sleeping outside the cabin. The dog was killed about 200yds from the cabin. The other dogs are fine. The feeders had been previously advised that a wolf pack was visiting that feedground and their dogs might be at risk. No control is planned.

Did the feeders care about the dogs ? They were left sleeping outside next to an elk feedlot frequented by wolves, coyotes, and no doubt cougar as well. This is way back in the mountains, east of Jackson Hole, untamed country.

Wyoming Game and Fish is just plain irresponsible, and these “problems” are to be expected.

The wolves seem to be the only ones in Wyoming actually doing something to reduce the prevalence of brucellosis (by scaring elk off of the diseased feedlots).

Sometimes there are comments that are just so good, they should be brought to the front as a post.

“BE” decided to calculate how much cattle consumed compared to elk. Remember that these animals compete for forage on the range.

BE wrote:

Interesting facts for hunters who care about elk numbers:

Number of Idaho State AUMs (animal unit months) leased for public lands grazing: 225,000 AUMs annually

BLM + Federal AUMS in Idaho for public lands grazing: 1,800,000 AUMs annually

Total Public Lands AUMs leased for livestock grazing in Idaho (S+F): 2,025,000

Now, the USDA NRCS National Range & Pasture Handbook cites these relative numbers for AUM consumption:

Cow, dry = 0.92
Cow + calf = 1.00
Elk, mature = 0.60
Deer (m) mature = 0.20
Deer, (wt) mature= 0.15

So - an elk needs 6/10 of 1 AUM to survive for a month

crunching the numbers we find that in Idaho alone, the public lands forage being subsidized to cows could annually support:

281,250 elk or
843,750 mule deer or
1,125,000 WT deer or

various combinations depending on where you’re at —

this contrasted against the roughly 13,600,000 AUMs grazed on private land in Idaho (which we could put through the same model, but because these private lands aren’t supposed to be for all of us we’ll omit from elk/deer potential habitat calculations) demonstrates that public lands ranching in Idaho only contributes around 12% of the forage used in Idaho livestock operations (public or private)…

so - public lands ranching robs elk of forage which could sustain above numbers of wildlife - how many do wolves take?… (and keep in mind, wolves kill the weak, diseased, old leaving hunters with bigger stronger game with bigger stronger genes for the next generation of herds)…

elk hunters need to re-evaluate the forces squeezing out our wildlife - and if we authentically care about our kids having the same quality opportunities to spend with their fathers, grandfathers, mothers, etc. on the hunt, we need to be willing to face the facts rather than the red herrings out there.