JACKSON, Wyo. — In honor of the National Wildlife Refuge System’s birthday on March 14, Buckrail reflects on the early origins of the National Elk Refuge.
President Theodore Roosevelt established the first national wildlife refuge on March 14, 1903 at Pelican Island, Florida, to protect brown pelicans from slaughter by market hunters.
According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, today’s Refuge System includes more than 570 national wildlife refuges, 38 wetland management districts and five marine national monuments. It conserves more than 95 million acres of land and 760 million acres of submerged lands and waters as wildlife habitat in all 50 states and five U.S. territories. There’s at least one national wildlife refuge in every state and one within an hour’s drive of most major metropolitan areas.
The National Elk Refuge in Jackson Hole was established in 1912 to assist the declining elk populations.
According to the Jackson Hole Historical Society and Museum (JHHSM), the winter of 1889/1890 reported that as many as 20,000 elk died, leaving less than 10,000 elk in Jackson Hole. The winters between 1909 and 1911 were particularly severe with heavy snow and ice coverage. Elk herds invaded ranches and roamed through the streets of Jackson in search of food.
“They died everywhere,” the JHHSM website states. “One resident noted in the spring of 1909 that it was possible to walk at least two miles stepping on elk carcasses without ever putting a foot on the ground.”
Local Jackson Hole settlers collected $600 (approximately $15,000 in today’s dollars) to buy hay, and petitioned the State of Wyoming for additional funds, which were granted in 1910 in the amount of $5,000. This was the first community-led effort to feed elk, but the available hay was insufficient for the size of the herd.
During this time, credit was given to Stephen Leek’s glass plate photographs, which documented starving and dead elk in the South Park region, for inspiring a state and national effort to preserve a winter range area for the herds, according to JHHSM.
On August 10, 1912, Congress appropriated $45,000 and decreed the creation of a National Elk Refuge. The Government incorporated 1,000 acres of public land and 1,760 acres of purchased land along Flat Creek to constitute the Refuge. D. C. Nowlin became the first Refuge Manager.
“All Americans should be proud of the refuge system’s 121-year history of managing a national network of land for fish, wildlife and their habitat for the continuing benefits of the American people,” National Elk Refuge Manager Frank Durbian told Buckrail.
According to Durbian, the Elk Refuge and Greater Yellowstone Visitor Center attracts approximately 500,000 visitors annually.
Today, the National Elk Refuge covers a total of 24,700 acres, and protects habitat for many other animals besides elk, including bison, wolves, trumpeter swans, bald eagles, bighorn sheep and cutthroat trout.
