JACKSON, Wyo. — On Friday, Jan. 10, the National Elk Refuge (NER) released the first biological update of 2025 with new information on what the supplemental feeding program could look like going forward.
Ungulate numbers
In the report, Eric Cole, NER senior wildlife biologist, said that he conducts weekly counts of all the ungulates occupying the standard survey area on the southern half of the Refuge. His most recent results from Jan. 7 are below:
- Elk = 6,420 (up from 3,080 on Dec. 19)
- Bison = 0
- Cole does note that approximately 200 bison arrived on the NER on Jan. 4, but after several were harvested, the bison subsequently moved north again. They were out of survey area by Jan. 6.
- Pronghorn = 0
- Bighorn Sheep = 38 (down from 53 on Dec. 19)
- Deer = 0
- Moose = 0
Cole notes there is also a sample of GPS collared elk for research and monitoring purposes, where each collar records what he calls “a very accurate GPS location” that can be accessed every 90 minutes remotely while the collar is still on the animal. Currently, Cole reports there are 46 collared elk providing data, all of which were originally captured on the NER feedgrounds.
As of Jan. 8, 43 out of 46 collared elk, or 94%, were on the southern half of the NER, which Cole writes indicates that major seasonal elk migrations to the NER are now complete. Large increases in elk numbers on the NER are now unlikely for the remainder of the winter.
Snow and feeding
As of Jan. 10, Cole reports snow pack depth at the NER Headquarters monitoring site was 6 inches, less than the long term average depth for this site on this date, which is 8.5 inches. Cole writes that existing NER snow pack is dense due to freeze/thaw cycles from late December.
The NER also monitors snow conditions and available forage at four key index sites distributed across the southern half of the NER in collaboration with Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD). Cole measured conditions at these sites on Jan. 8, and average available forage was 695 lbs. per acre.
“This is still above the 300 lbs. per acre threshold where we typically recommend that supplemental feeding is necessary,” Cole writes. “Although feeding is not recommended at this time, we will continue to closely monitor conditions, and I will provide more information about feeding start date in a future biological update.”
USGS Strategic Decision Making Report
The NER has been collaborating with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) on a Strategic Decision Making process to guide the revision to the NER’s Bison and Elk Management Plan and analyze the effects of possible future NER management activities, Cole confirms. As part of this process, the effects of five possible management alternatives on key metrics were analyzed, including elk and bison numbers, CWD prevalence in elk, elk distribution and effects on sensitive plant communities, elk and bison conflicts on private land, socioeconomic effects and monetary costs to the NER.
Cole writes that as a result of the analysis, management alternatives include:
- Continued feeding: The NER will continue to provision supplemental food to bison and elk during winter months based on forage availability and number of conflicts.
- No feeding: The NER will immediately stop provisioning food to bison and elk during winter months.
- Increase harvest, then stop feeding: The NER will continue to provision food to bison and elk during winter months for the next five years, then stop feeding. During those five years, the NER will work with the WGFD to increase elk harvest and attempt to reduce the population of elk that overwinter at the NER to 5,000 animals.
- Reduce feeding, then stop feeding: The NER will provision a reduced ration to elk during winter months for the next five years to reduce the elk population size prior to feedground closures. Exclosures will be designed to protect aspen stands in the south region of the NER, and for willow and cottonwood north of the NER.
- Stop feeding after three percent CWD prevalence is measured in Jackson elk: The NER will continue to provision food to bison and elk during winter months until CWD sampling reveals three percent prevalence in the Jackson elk herd, at which point all feeding activities will cease at the NER.
Cole emphasizes that the alternatives listed above and analyzed in the USGS report are not guaranteed to be the same alternatives that will be considered and analyzed in the ongoing Bison and Elk Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process.
But the USGS analysis will provide what Cole calls “critical information” to develop the EIS alternatives.
