Wildfire destroyed their habitat, and now it’s hard to say where they’ll end up

The Idaho Department of Fish and Game is seeking comments about what to do with the herd of elk that normally winter on the desert between Hamer and east to the Red Road. Most of that winter range was destroyed by the 99,000 acre Grassy Ridge fire. Where those elk will end up this winter is anyone’s guess.

“We have no idea where these elk will end up and we are looking for comments from anyone who thinks they know what the elk will do,” Jim White, Upper Snake River Valley Regional Supervisor for the Idaho Fish and Game’s Upper Snake Region, said last week at a meeting in Terreton. “As a department, we have discussed a lot of different scenarios and are trying to prepare for anything that might happen.”

Adding to the loss of winter range for big game is the Indian Ridge fire between Dubois and Spencer that is still smoldering and has destroyed over 13,000 acres and the numerous fires between the Menan Buttes and Market Lake Wildlife Management Area. Once the herds of elk leave Island Park and Yellowstone National Park and migrate to these burned out areas where there will be very little food and cover, they will have to move somewhere else.

We might look at the fire at Tex Creek a few years ago for answers to what might happen with this new problem. But one huge difference was that after the fire we had a very wet late summer and fall, which allowed the grass to grow, creating a food source so rich that the special hunt created to eliminate some elk was very unsuccessful.

In contrast, this late summer and fall we have only had one day of rain and there is no grass growing for any winter feed. Conflict between ranchers and elk will happen, unless we have a light winter allowing the big game to winter near the Big Bend Ridge that separates the forest and the desert.

The Department of Fish and Game is trying to be proactive and to prepare for these conflicts by stock piling hay near the Egin/Hamer Road to feed the elk if necessary.

“The legislature has passed rules to help us fund damage caused by big game by placing a fee on licenses to create more money for us,” said White. “We used to have a little money to work with and then we would have to go back to them to get more. They have even set up a fund for prevention of damage by wildlife.”

“Where we used to have enough money to help protect three or four stack yards, we now have enough to protect 18 or 19,” said Dustin Cureton, a wildlife game biologist with Fish and Game who has worked for years with depredation complaints. “We are also more apt to listen to others ideas than we used to and we encourage landowners to file crop damage reports so that we can compensate them for the damage caused by big game.”

Landowners and managers are concerned about what will happen when the elk are forced onto the devastated winter range. Several years ago, a herd of elk near Roberts created problems with traffic on the interstate and camped out on private property surrounded by hunters parked on the roads surrounding them. About 200 head of elk tried wintering in the Monteview area as well as a herd of 700 near Larson Farms northeast of Hamer.

“When 3500 to 5000 head of elk find no food on the desert, they will cross the freeway and will be a major problem to all the farmers and ranchers,” commented landowner, Rex Fullmer. “It will be a real mess.”

“Each fall we windrow a full pivot to feed for our cattle once we bring them off the range,” J. C. Neville, a farmer east of Hamer, said. “On bad years, the elk will come in and destroy and waste most of it before the cows get to it and it looks like this year is going to be one of those winters.”

The Fish and Game personnel are in constant contact with the landowners and are prepared to react to problems caused by the destruction of winter range for the big game, especially elk. So if you have any idea what might help the Fish and Game predict what the elk might do, or if you are an elk-whisperer, contact the Fish and Game – they are willing and ready to listen.