JACKSON, Wyo. — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is seeking public comments on its updated Bison and Elk Management Plan and an associated Environmental Impact Statement (BEMP) for managing elk, bison and habitat within the National Elk Refuge, the Service announced Tuesday.
The comment period is open now through Aug. 31.
The Service will also host in-person meetings in Jackson at the Teton County Library on Aug. 21, in Pinedale on Aug. 22 at the Sublette County Library and virtually on Aug. 23. The virtual meeting link will be posted on the project page at least two weeks prior.
In 2007, the Service completed the first plan to guide the management of bison and elk herds on the National Elk Refuge for a 15-year timeframe. The first BEMP called for reducing the number of elk wintering on the Refuge to 5,000 and reducing the number of bison to 500.
“Currently, these herds number about 450 bison and 10,600 elk,” according to the Service.
The Service also completed a 5-year Step-down plan in 2019 to reduce supplemental feeding on the Refuge. The plan ends in December 2024 so the new updates to the plan seek to address newly available scientific information and changed conditions since adoption of the original management plan.
According to the Service, the new conditions include the detection of chronic wasting disease in the Jackson area.
“The Service is working closely with Tribes, the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, Wyoming Game and Fish Department and others to update the plan as the Jackson elk and bison herds migrate across several jurisdictional boundaries,” states the press release.
“We will be considering a range of reasonable alternatives for management of bison and elk on the Refuge that potentially include management measures such as winter feeding, hunting, disease management and habitat conservation,” states the Service. “These approaches may be considered separately or in any combination in the environmental impact statement.”
“Under the no-action alternative, the Service would continue to manage bison and elk on the National Elk Refuge based on the 2007 BEMP.”
Comments may be submitted via the following methods:
- Online: https://www.regulations.gov, Docket No. FWS-R6-NWRS-2023-0062.
- U.S. mail: Public Comments Processing, Attn: FWS-R6-NWRS-2023-0062;
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: PRB/3W, 5275 Leesburg Pike; Falls Church, VA 22041–3803. Please note in your submission that your comments are regarding the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Bison and Elk Management Plan.
