JACKSON, Wyo. — On June 30, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) shared its Draft Wyoming Elk Feedgrounds Management Plan for public review and comment, which can be found on Elk Feedgrounds: A Challenge We Can Take On.
Under the guidance of an outside facilitator, the WGFD began its Elk Feedgrounds Public Collaborative in December 2020 and has worked closely with 60 volunteer public stakeholders. According to a WGFD press release, the public collaborative effort has also been conducted in consultation with representatives from the National Elk Refuge, Grand Teton National Park, Bridger-Teton National Forest and the Bureau of Land Management.
The Plan is designed to guide the department’s overall, long-term approach to elk management as it pertains to the 22 Game and Fish-operated elk feedgrounds in western Wyoming, the press release says. The goal is to reduce elk’s reliance on feedgrounds while increasing opportunities for elk to winter away from feedgrounds in an effort to decrease disease transmission amongst the elk.
The WGFD also established the following sideboards:
- Maintaining current, publicly-established elk population objectives and associated hunting opportunity
- Limiting elk damage to private property
- Limiting disease transmission to livestock
- Limiting competition with other wildlife species
Other topics the Plan addresses include the history of feedgrounds in Wyoming and how management has evolved, social and economic considerations, feedground-related disease management, elk populations and harvest strategies and the future management direction of elk feedgrounds in western Wyoming.
WGFD will host four public meetings, three in-person and one online, to provide an opportunity for the public to interact with members of the department’s elk feedgrounds steering team and learn more about the details of the proposed plan:
- July 24: Teton County Public Library in Jackson at 6 p.m.
- July 25: Online via Zoom, 6 p.m. (link for registration)
- July 26: Sublette County Public Library in Pinedale at 6 p.m.
- July 27: Afton Civic Center in Afton at 6 p.m.
The steering team has developed a comment form with a few questions for people to answer. The comment period is open through Sept. 10.
Based on comments received, finalized plans will be presented for discussion and approval by the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission at their Nov. 14 and 15 meeting in Cody.
