Big and beautiful, elk are among Colorado’s most beloved wild animals. But in some places, they’re too numerous for the ecosystems and nearby human communities. In parts of Colorado, elk numbers must be trimmed, yet the best tools available – introducing more wild predators or increasing human hunting – inevitably stir controversy. Because the ecosystems are out of whack, human intervention is needed. Wildlife managers must take tough steps and officials should support them.
Paradoxically, Colorado may be able to support more elk statewide than previously thought. Officials count an estimated 275,000 elk, but for years wildlife biologists said Colorado should have no more than 189,000. Now it seems that target may be too low. Using radio collars, biologists have tracked elk and learned the animals live longer than previously assumed.
Still, some specific areas of the state clearly have far too many elk.
Every ecosystem can handle only a certain number of animals and plants, so if the natural systems get out of balance, many species suffer. And elk have a grave potential for causing trouble because of their size (500 to 1,200 pounds) and capacity for eating almost any plant material. Elk easily elbow out deer and big horn sheep. Dense elk herds also overrun aspen and willow stands, destroying habitat needed by beavers, songbirds and even butterflies.
Such damage is occurring in and around Rocky Mountain National Park, where year-round herds contain 3,000 elk but should have no more than 2,100, overwhelming the ecosystem that sustains them. The huge herds also might spread chronic wasting disease.
By 2006, the National Park Service hopes to issue a draft plan for controlling elk in the park. One of four options, doing nothing, is unacceptable given the ongoing ecological damage. But another could invite howls of protest: reintroducing wolves to the park. Backers of the idea note that in Wyoming’s Yellowstone National Park, wolves were reintroduced about 15 years ago and now there are no problems with elk numbers or chronic wasting disease.
We empathize with the park’s quandary, but caution against deliberately bringing wolves into Colorado. The Colorado Wildlife Commission has adopted a thoughtful wolf management plan that says the state will tolerate gray wolves if the endangered animals migrate here naturally. But the plan also says that residents don’t want the predators intentionally reintroduced. It’s a middle ground between wolf-loving environmentalists and predator-fearing ranchers. If the feds ignore the state’s wishes, they would upend the fragile compromise – with potentially devastating consequences to future wolf recovery efforts.
But back to the elk. Federal law bans public hunting in national parks but does allow park employees to shoot animals in some circumstances. Two other options the park may consider propose federal employees or contractors shooting some elk.
Elk also are a problem in south central Colorado’s San Luis Valley, but for a different reason. The valley’s ecosystems might sustain the herds, but its farm economy cannot. Elk devour crops and carry on their hooves the seeds of invasive species and potential plant diseases, a threat to the fields of certified seed potatoes that are used to plant potato farms nationwide and represent Colorado’s highest-value crop. Given the economic losses, the Colorado Division of Wildlife has concluded there should be no elk on the San Luis Valley floor.
But it’s tough to convince wild animals to stay in the surrounding mountains. And even the nearby high ground has too many elk: Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve has about 6,000 elk but should have only about 1,500, experts say.
Normally, Colorado’s big-game hunting seasons start in the autumn. However, for the San Luis Valley, the division is considering a summer hunting season on bull elk. The idea is to teach elk to avoid the valley floor – without killing cows before calves have a chance to mature.
Animal-rights activists may oppose shooting elk either in Rocky Mountain National Park or the San Luis Valley. But given the ecological and economic damage, careful use of human hunters is a reasonable option.
