“It is…highly probable that from the very beginning, apart from death, the only ironclad rule of human experience has been the Law of Unintended Consequences.”
Ian Tattersall, Masters of the Planet
Well, there was that time I threw a metal coffee can full of gravel into the air and it just happened to hit my sister in the head while coming back to earth. Most of us have done something that seemed OK, appropriate, or even fun, at the time, but then devolved into something quite regrettable. Of course, telling my mom that it was really red paint rapidly covering my sister or the fact that we had been in a “forbidden” part of our neighborhood compounded the consequences in this case.
Unfortunately, we do see actions or decisions that result in unintended consequences. Many times those initial choices through the passage of time, inertia, lack of information, or human nature to resist change, become harder to correct. And the greater the geographic area involved, the larger the numbers of people or wildlife, the more varied the flora and the fauna, and the more significant the impacts, the greater the complexity of “fixing” those unintended consequences.
There are no weather records for the years of 1909-1911 and it is from personal recollection that we are told that those were difficult winters for elk in Jackson Hole. Snows brought them from the high country to the valley floor, freezing rains made grazing impossible, and elk were starving. They attempted to feed at stored hay on ranches and the landscaping of homes in town. Many died. Believing the need to prevent continued starvation of the region’s elk, a concerned community made choices that now potentially threaten the health and sustainability of an iconic species in western Wyoming—Cervus canadensis—elk. Efforts to discuss and address the threat have split the community into at least two camps. . . . And in 1910 it seemed like such a good thing to do.
Humans and wildlife share some of the same the desires when choosing their preferred habitat. As Jackson Hole and surrounding valleys filled with settlers, some prime lands for elk forage became agricultural lands. Movement of elk through the seasons to take advantage of the best grazing became complicated; impeded by fences and roads, distracted from the need to migrate because of accessible stores of hay, and still conditioned to find what they needed on lands no longer providing that resource for them, they struggled to get through the winter of 1909. Very large herds of elk had been in this area for many decades; had survived years of difficult conditions; but the homesteaders, having only relatively recently arrived, thought that action should be taken. Elk outnumbered people and cattle combined; their impact on folks struggling to make a living was probably critical during these winters. Raising cattle in Jackson Hole was not easy. Eventually the community was moved to do something to protect their livelihood, to keep their hard-fought supplies of hay secure, and to establish a system that would solve the problem for the future.
The photographs of local rancher and hunting guide Stephen Leek taken during those difficult winters still evoke emotions that move us. And in 1910, they helped bring attention to the condition of elk in Jackson Hole. One of the first responses was the appropriation of $5,000 from the Wyoming Legislature for the purchase of feed for the elk from local ranchers. The following year they went a step farther and requested help from the U.S. Congress to help feed and preserve big game and promptly received $20,000 for feed and to investigate the problem.
The Report on Condition of Elk in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, in 1911 was a result of the study by the U.S. Biological Survey. It proposed setting aside lands, a “winter refuge, where the food can be preserved by excluding stock during the summer, is essential for the proper protection of elk.” Even without the benefit of airmail, the Internet or telephones, things happened much faster in those days. In August 1912, Congress passed an act that established a winter elk reserve: now known as the National Elk Refuge (NER).
Beginning with the acquisition of 34 homesteads, then lands added from purchases by the Izaak Walton League, the National Elk Refuge is currently 24,700 acres in size. It is the largest of 23 feedgrounds in western Wyoming; the Wyoming Game and Fish Department operates 22 others. The annual classification and count by NER of elk on the refuge was conducted on Feb 18, 2015, with 8,390 animals counted. This is considerably higher than the 5-year running average of 6,807. And the human population has increased as well to 21,675 in 2012, yet the number for cattle and calves for the same year is 4,500.
The increased number of people, homes, and roads have probably had some impact on elk movement, but they are still found in our yards, munching on the landscaping, and taking advantage of the fact that as they move from summer to winter range through our neighborhoods, they can’t be shot by hunters. Migrations for elk, deer and pronghorn occur despite the argument that our extensive development in the valley prevents them. Pronghorn herd numbers crashed and they were absent from their summer range in Grand Teton National Park from 1907 until 1957; when herd numbers increased they re-established a route that had existed for thousands of years despite having to move through human developments. The hay stored by ranchers is still an attraction, a more than adequate reason for elk to remain and not continue their migration, and a big reason for initiating feeding on the NER and the state feedgrounds: to move elk away from the private lands, the arduously acquired cattle and feed.
So, what are some of the consequences of those decisions made in 1910? The most obvious is the high density of elk on the refuge in the winter with the huge impact of thousands of elk occupying a relatively small area. The trees and shrubs cannot outpace the browsing from animals continuous feeding. With a less stressful winter because food is so readily available, some elk leave the NER healthy and return to their summer range; in Grand Teton National Park those numbers are increasing and impacting the carrying capacity of the summer habitat. But the overcrowding also exacerbates the spread of disease: hoof rot, scabies, brucellosis, and now the specter of chronic wasting disease (CWD). Hoof rot has killed several dozen elk each year and scabies can contribute to mortality in years when the conditions are favorable for the burrowing mites. Brucellosis is on everyone’s radar more for what it does to the cattle industry than what it does to elk and bison. Cattlemen depend on healthy calves to provide a growing herd and profit. Brucellosis causes cows to abort their calves. It spreads within the herd and triggers Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service requirements to eliminate all the animals in an infected herd. But the biggest, scariest threat is of CWD. Similar to mad-cow disease, this not only infects the animals, but the soils they occupy. Studies show that the disease does not kill right away: it gradually destroys the brain leaving the animals unable to adequately find food or ingest it; they are more susceptible to predators, and eventually, to death. And the misshapen prions that cause all this havoc in the brain transfer to the soil and remain there and the surroundings indefinitely, re-infecting animals that subsequently use the area. A death zone has been created.
We have put into place an entrenched system that, knowingly or not, bestows a range of values upon the environment, the culture, the economy, and the future of Jackson Hole. Lets look at themes that are commonly heard for the two perspectives of this issue; how do we deal with the unintended consequences: do we continue to feed or stop the feeding. And how do they reflect our values?
Continue feeding—
- This maintains our large elk herds and provides a hunter success rate of 40% compared to other states rate of around 20%.
- If CWD hits the refuge there will be plenty of years for herds to repopulate as the life span after infection can run up to 7 years.
- The economy of Jackson Hole relies heavily on elk hunting.
- The culture of Jackson Hole is strongly identified with hunting.
- We are responsible for the development that prohibits elk from utilizing their traditional migration routes to winter ranges and we need to rectify that.
- Thousands of elk would die if feeding were discontinued.
- Contact between elk and cattle is minimized.
- Elk would be unable to re-learn migration patterns.
- Elk management would still be determined by their impact on the much smaller numbers of cattle.
Stop feeding—
- Plans would be designed to provide feed in severe winters.
- Winter range still exists and is utilized by elk.
- The Bison and Elk Management Plan for the National Elk Refuge and Grand Teton National Park stipulates that elk numbers must drop to 5,000 elk fed in winter on the refuge.
- The artificially high elk numbers would decrease and habitat would improve on winter and summer ranges.
- Disease potential would drop and relieve the pressure of combating CWD on such a large scale.
- Wyoming Game and Fish would no longer attempt vaccination of wild elk with an ineffective product.
- Heavy-handed management of predators on feedgrounds would end.
- Funds can be focused more on preventing interactions between elk and cattle, i.e. fencing or other methods.
- Priorities would identify the region’s unique wildlife over the limited number of cattle as more critical to the economy and to the environment.
You know, I believe that this split in what we should do is because the two sides disagree about what the consequences are of either choice; a complication that has been growing for more than 100 years.
The following contributed information to this piece:
Stephen Leek Collection, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.
http://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/grte2/hrst.htm
http://www.brucesmithwildlife.com
http://www.consultcbi.com/images/CBI_Focus_on_Teton_County_2015-01.pdf
http://www.city-data.com/county/Teton_County-WY.html
Lloyd Dorsey