BISMARCK, N.D.—Sen. Byron Dorgan is asking the director of the National Park Service to clarify the agency’s stance on using private hunters to thin elk herds in national parks.
Park Service officials have said federal law bars the use of private hunters as a way to control the elk overpopulation in Theodore Roosevelt National Park in western North Dakota. But a Park Service regional director sent a letter to a Colorado congressman saying the agency was considering “qualified volunteers” among the options for culling elk in Rocky Mountain National Park.
“We believe that we have existing authority to use any of the above where deemed appropriate,” Michael Snyder wrote to Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colo.
Dorgan, D-N.D., has sent a letter to Park Service Director Mary Bomar asking her to resolve the apparent disagreement among agency employees.
In March, the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service said in a letter to Dorgan that federal law allows “authorized agents” of the National Park Service to thin animal herds, leading to speculation that private hunters could be named authorized agents.
“The National Park Service needs to resolve this in a manner consistent with its regulations, which do allow the use of volunteer hunters,” Dorgan said in the letter.
