Elk Feeding Stations

[fishunt247]

This came up in the bird hunting forum via bird feeders, so thought I'd move the subject to a topic here. An opinion was made that the elk feeding program should never have been started and now we have elk populations that the habitat can't support. Instead we should have set aside winter range for the elk to winter in that they could sustain themselves so we wouldn't have to feed them like livestock. I value this opinion, but fully disagree. My experience is with the Yakima herd, formerly the largest in the state, so the case may be different elsewhere. If we were to set aside winter range for the elk in Yakima country, towns would no longer exist. Oak Creek, the largest of these feeding stations, is maybe ten minutes from Naches. Right over the hill is Cowiche and Tieton. For the elk to naturally sustain themselves, they would have to move down through and past these towns to winter range on most years. The elk at the Cowiche feeding station would also have to move down through Cowiche and into south Yakima. The elk at the West Valley feeding station would have to move down through West Valley and into Yakima. These feeding stations are the lowest the elk can go without being into civilization. Blame human expansion, but this is what we are left with. Other winter range is not an option, really. Without these feeding stations, the Yakima herd would have way fewer elk, meaning way fewer trophy class bulls. Is this the same case with feeding stations elsewhere, or is Yakima a rare case? Other opinions?

[ICEMAN]

Feed em.

Actually, I believe that feeding operations should go forward, outside of public view, with as minimal contact with humans as possible. Nothing worse than noisy trashy visitors slamming truck doors, kids squealing, and general disrespect for these animals at a critical time for them.

[270Shooter]

I agree we have to feed them or the population would be greatly reduced.

[luvtohnt]

You hit the nail right on the head. Human expansion is to great to let the elk migrate to winter range. The elk have been pushed out of what was their winter range for some time. The only herd in this state I know of that doesn't get fed is the Clockum. That is only because they have the sage all the way to the river to roam in. I don't know much about feeding for the westside, or the blues herds. I have noticed in Ellensburg that every year they seem to feed father from the gates, and last year when I would close the truck door the elk wouldn't even lift their heads out of curiosity. We will have to continue to feed to aquire the goals for the number of elk the WDFW wants.

Brandon

[Let er Fly]

Yah, luvtohnt is right for Ellensburg herds.  One feeding station is a 1/2 mile plus from the elk fence.  Couldn't see the elk if you wanted to.  The other they keep the feed quite a ways from the fence.  You pretty much have to have binos to inspect the good bulls.

Anyway, yah, keep feeding them or they will be extinct in some areas quick.

[fishunt247]

I kinda thought that would be the consensus, so far. I don't think the Hanford Reach herd gets fed, but they live on what I would consider the winter range. I'm new to ellensburg (for school), are the feeding stations on the manastash side? There isn't a fence on the teanaway side is there? All the elk I saw last winter in the Teanaway were nice bulls, no big herds of cows or anything. The bulls were cool to look at, and you could count on them being there for like 2 months straight.

[bowhuntin]

I kinda thought that would be the consensus, so far. I don't think the Hanford Reach herd gets fed, but they live on what I would consider the winter range. I'm new to ellensburg (for school), are the feeding stations on the manastash side? There isn't a fence on the teanaway side is there? All the elk I saw last winter in the Teanaway were nice bulls, no big herds of cows or anything. The bulls were cool to look at, and you could count on them being there for like 2 months straight.

Joe Watt and Robinson Canyon are the two that I know of. You can view elk from Joe Watt, but not Robinson. To answer your question that is on the Manastash side. I tried to find a link for you on the WDFW website, but had no luck. There is information on all the feeding stations for elk on their website and it gives you directions to them if you dig around you can probably find it. Bring a set of binoculars if you go out to Joe Watt, they are fed quite aways back from the fence. I am not sure if they will even feed them if there isn't any snow.

[Wenatcheejay]

+1 for feeding them.

[270Shooter]

The Hanford herds don't get fed because the herd isn't that big and they have all of the rez and farmers crops to feed on

[boneaddict]

Some of you might be a little misinformed.  Much of the feeding station was to keep the animals from damaging crops or from coming into town. It wasn't for a lack of range here.  There is alot of winterrange out there that is untapped in regards to the yakima herd.  Can't speak for the St Helens etc.   I am not so sure how much the feeding station has boomed the population other than possible winter kill with calves.  I am not so sure that the feeding station actually aids alot in their survival as they have to compete in those feeding stations and they don't always fair as well if they were out in the sticks.   Fewer predator kill I suppose.   

[runamuk]

They also get fed privately to prevent damage (because wdfw has no real plan).....when we lived outside of Cle Elum I met a guy who put up hay for his horses and built a barn for hay for elk.......they came in every winter and would trash his fences to get to his horse feed so he gave up and started feeding them on a far corner of his property.  They also invade Easton and there are alot of people who put out feed to keep them away from houses....doesn't always work I know my friends driveway was plagued with the critters in the winter...They also winter out toward Thorpe, Elk Heights area and out Taneum creek.  Elk are like locusts in many of those areas 

If anything they need more feeding stations.

[bobcat]

GYC seeking end to artificial feeding on refuge

June 2008: In early June, GYC and several other conservations groups filed suit in a Washington, D.C., court, asking that the harmful artificial feeding of elk and bison on the National Elk Refuge in Jackson Hole be stopped. We asked that the Department of the Interior follow its own scientists' recommendations for restoring healthy elk herds and habitat to the area.

GYC is launching its own campaign for the restoration of the Refuge, which has become an ecological desert because of too many elk. By gradually phasing out the artificial feeding of elk on the Refuge, native flora and fauna will return and turn Jackson Hole into a wildlife-rich version of Yellowstone's Lamar Valley.

The litigation surrounding the Refuge is a first step in eliminating the 23 elk feed grounds in Wyoming, the only state to operate artificial food lines for wildlife. Neighboring Idaho and Montana are adamantly opposed to feed grounds and were incensed when Bridger-Teton National Forest supervisor Kniffy Hamilton recently extended the lease on two feed grounds by 20 years.

HISTORY: Herds of wild elk, deer and bison have moved in annual patterns around Yellowstone for thousands of years. Spending summers high on the Yellowstone Plaeau, they tended to migrate to lower elevations during the winter in search of warmer temperatures and forage free from snow. These patterns represent the normal movements of healthy wildlife.

In the early 20th century, wildlife advocates realized that Wyoming’s Rocky Mountain Elk herd was in trouble. Ranchers' hay drew the animals into valleys, where they interacted with humans, causing conflict. Elk populations plummeted.

Wildlife managers seized on a solution they understood: feed the elk during the winter, ideally away from their haystacks.

It worked. Elk populations rebounded. Today, many Wyomingites view with pride the elk feedgrounds they, their fathers, or their grandfathers had built. The state of Wyoming paid hay haulers to deliver hay to the feedgrounds, often higher in the alpine than elk would normally be found at that time of year.

Fast forward to the present: elk populations have recovered, in part due to decades-long conservation efforts. But the feedgrounds remain. Now, instead of feeding a few starving elk, they attract large numbers to these feedlines. High concentrations of the animals pose a new and serious threat: disease spread easily among the elk. Brucellosis, in particular, is passed easily among the crowds of elk in these feedgounds. Also present are scabies, hoof rot and lice. The deadly Chronic Wasting Disease has been discovered as close as 70 miles away.

Wyoming’s 23 feedgrounds keep elk away from ranchers hay piles, and away friom ranchers cattle; but the unnatural concentration has resulted in a high incidence of brucellosis. Some feedgrounds show brucellosis rates of up to 40%, while the Montana and Idaho are below 9%.

It's time for Wyoming to phase out these feedgrounds, but it can’t be done instantaneously. Elk may not immediately naturally migrate to lower elevations to find grass, though they can be baited and re-taught their traditional migration routes; ranchers' hay must be protected with high fencing.

GYC and other conservation groups are interacting with state and federal agencies to try to develop experimental projects to phase out some elk feedgrounds, which may help the disease disappear among elk. It is generally thought that if elk are allowed to disperse naturally across a landscape, rather than be concentrated on feedgrounds during the winter, the disease will die out among the elk.

The first prototype for phasing out feedgrounds and helping protect elk and cattle, may best be implemented in the Gros Ventre Valley, east of Jackson Hole, where there is abundant winter range, and very few livestock to co-mingle with the elk. GYC and our partners prepared a Plan, the "Brucellosis Solution for Elk and Cattle in Wyoming" (click to download) and submitted it to the governor of Wyoming in January 2005. Unfortunately, it has not been acted upon by the State of Wyoming, and the state has decided to maintain feedgrounds and has even undertaken testing and slaughtering of pregnant adult elk on feedgrounds. This does not treat the root cause of the problem which are the feedgrounds themselves.

Although the State of Wyoming manages the feedgrounds, many of them are located on National Forest lands. An activity of this scale on National Forest lands requires the Forest Service to examine closely the impacts—something they have not yet done, although many of the feedgrounds have been around for decades.

GYC and our partners have filed a lawsuit in US District Court to persuade the Forest Service and BLM to undertake full scale analyses of the impacts of feedgrounds, and to study sustainable alternatives. We expect a decision of our request by December 2006.

[fishunt247]

Ya bone, when my dad was a kid, the elk used to migrate past his house. Now, the elk fence (and west valley feeding station) is about 4 miles west of that house. There is a lot of winter range for the yakima herd...in places. Like in the wenas/lt. murray area (as you know), there is miles and miles of lowcountry. It seems to me that elk would migrate right past the nile/oak creek/cowiche/west valley feeding stations on some winters. I guess what I'm trying to say in this rambling is that there is winter range, but because of human expansion, some elk can't go as low as they need in harder winters.   

[runamuk]

It is generally thought that if elk are allowed to disperse naturally across a landscape, rather than be concentrated on feedgrounds during the winter, the disease will die out among the elk.

In theory this is a great idea.  In areas like I was talking about, I don't think its possible.  The elk winter right where humans live.  More feeding stations scattered around wiould reduce the high numbers in one or two areas and reduce diseases caused by high density.  It also might draw them away from the residential areas.

I am sure many won't believe me but the elk can be a real problem, when you cannot get from your car to your house on a regular basis this is a problem.  Don't get me wrong I think they are beautiful creatures but damn they are huge and they have menacing antlers and do not give a rip that you are honking at them.......when my kids were small and I was going to my friends it was an issue, don't know how many times she had to get a shotgun to get them out of the driveway.

The elk need the winter feeding grounds but now they have humans to contend with, so there has to be a middle ground.