Is the Pine Bark Beetle infestation in the Intermountain West adversely impacting how Elk utilize the Medicine Bow National Forest in Wyoming???..............Has the dying Pine trees impacted how hunters utilize the forest?...........Major impacts to consider include: (1) the ability of elk to move through the landscape due to fallen logs, increased vegetation regeneration or beetle kill management activities, (2) the ability of hunters to access elk hunting areas, (3) a loss of hiding cover, (4) increased harvest availability to hunters due to new logging roads constructed for harvesting of trees, (5) increased cripple loss due to longer shots and tougher tracking conditions, (6) decreased harvest availability by hunters due to closed roads and fallen trees, and/or (7) increased degradation of forest ecosystem health and wildlife habitat due to higher numbers of elk and a loss of hunter participation in beetle kill areas.

Beetle kill may affect how elk use forest

 

BAGGS – A cooperative study between the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) and the U.S. Forest Service's Secure Rural Schools Resource Advisory Committee for the Medicine Bow National Forest will provide information on how hunters and elk use the forest and how that use may change throughout different stages of the mountain pine beetle epidemic.

Baggs Game and Fish Wildlife Biologist Tony Mong says the study was implemented because of the potential impacts beetle kill will have on the way elk use the forest and hunters hunt in the forest.

"The epidemic of mountain beetle kill within pine forests of the west has been well documented," Mong said. "More than 1.5 million acres of forest in northern Colorado and southern Wyoming have been affected. This tree mortality is resulting in a drastically changing landscape that could impact elk and hunters in the Sierra Madre Portion of the Medicine Bow National Forest."

Mong says the Sierra Madre elk herd is one of the keystone elk herds in Wyoming, producing over 30,000 recreation days ($2.6 million in hunter expenditures), and averages one of the highest harvest of elk in the state over the last 10 years. The current herd is estimated to be approximately 8,000 animals, double the population objective of 4,200.

"Some indication of impacts to forest ecosystem health by the higher elk population have already been documented in the Sierra Madre range by both range staff and wildlife biologists," Mong said. "If hunter participation decreases, the ability to manage elk numbers becomes almost impossible."

"There is a long list of major impacts to consider including: (1) the ability of elk to move through the landscape due to fallen logs, increased vegetation regeneration or beetle kill management activities, (2) the ability of hunters to access elk hunting areas, (3) a loss of hiding cover, (4) increased harvest availability to hunters due to new logging roads constructed for harvesting of trees, (5) increased cripple loss due to longer shots and tougher tracking conditions, (6) decreased harvest availability by hunters due to closed roads and fallen trees, and/or (7) increased degradation of forest ecosystem health and wildlife habitat due to higher numbers of elk and a loss of hunter participation in beetle kill areas."

"Gathering information for resource managers in relation to how hunters and elk utilize the forest before, during, and after the beetle kill epidemic will be an integral part in protecting and improving forest ecosystem health and maintaining viable wildlife habitat throughout the beetle kill areas," Mong said. "This study will provide key information on hunter and elk focus areas, leading to better decisions on future beetle kill management activities including road closures, areas of management focus, and key road/trail maintenance areas."

Mong said as part of the initial effort to gather information to educate resource managers and the public he will be recruiting nearly 100 volunteer elk hunters in hunt areas 21 and 15 to carry Global Positioning System (GPS) units throughout one day of their hunt. This information will allow Mong to analyze areas of high hunter use and areas of little or no hunter use.

"Information gathered from just one of the hunters will be of little use," Mong said. "It will be the collective hunting effort of all 100 hunters that will provide valuable data. We're not looking for "secret hunting" spots, just the overall use of the forest."

In order to gather the same information from elk, Mong is going to deploy GPS collars on cow elk. Elk movement data will be collected for several years which will allow Mong to detect changes in use and implement different management strategies if needed.

"With the gathered we anticipate being able to create useful publications and produce web-based information for resource managers and the public. We also hope to provide information for hunter education coursework in relation to beetle kill and offer educational presentations designed for hunter groups and other agencies."

Read more: Little Chicago Review - Beetle kill may affect how elk use forest