Show Page IB— The Herald Journal Logan Utah Friday March 26 1999 South Fork rich Artillery shells missing in Yellowstone for rainbow trout Rainbow restrictions lifted on Snake River By Idaho Fish and Game An important rule change for fishing on the world-famo- us ve South Fork of the Snake River is effective immediately The regulation changes peitain only to rainbow trout AH other species limits and restrictions remain intact The two-fis- h limit eight to 11 inches only still applies to cutthroat cutthroat hybrids and brown trout Anglers can keep six rainbow trout of any size Anglers may now keep up to six rainbow trout of any size or a combination of rainbow cutthroat or brown trout the key being that the six trout aggregate limit is not to be exceeded and that cutthroat and brown trout meet slot and bag limit restrictions Fisheries managers hope that by using anglers to help manage rainbow populations native Yellowstone cutthroat trout population numbers will improve effect immediately for those stretches of river currently open to fishing the remainder will fall into place once the general fishing season starts on May 29 Few people disagree that artif- Elk feeding causes problems Differences of opinion emerge quickly however when disicial Continued (him Page 17 management of wildlife so that wc can do anything at all" Reiswig said Indeed the Refuge is now facing two lawsuits each from very different ideologies questioning the way wildlife officials are managing the reserve Outside of the court battles many different groups and agencies hold widely differing visions of the Refuge's future “We're going to end up in a big public debate” said Joe Bohne a regional manager for Wyoming Department of Game and Fish “Who's going to get their way in this is going to be real interesting Elk management in Jackson Hole has always involved a series of compromises and I suspect elk management in the future will involve compromise too" It is difficult to discuss one of the many interconnected issues with which Refuge managers are grappling without delving into another Supplemental feeding however is the centerpiece of most debates Because of feeding there are large numbers of elk in the Jackson Hole Herd despite dwindling winter range Numbers of area elk have for many years exceeded wildlife managers' set goals of 7500 wintering on the Refuge and 11029 in the entire Jackson Hole Herd But according to wildlife man- agers The department will also be proceeding with plans to control rainbow trout spawning access to four important South Fork tributaries For a number of years Fish and Game has had a growing concern over the impact of non-natirainbow trout on native Yellowstone cutthroat trout Management plans to address the situation have been in existence for some time but caught some anglers off guard last fall resulting in a series of special meetings to educate the public regarding the status of the various fish populations in the South Fork As the result of consulting with the public at these meetings IDFG proposed to the Commission to liberalize harvest of rainbow trout The new regulations pertain only to the South Fork of the Snake River between Palisades Dam and its confluence with the Henrys Fork All changes are in bringing elk numbers down is not as simple as just cutting the feeding program If feeding were cut elk would leave the Refuge's established boundaries and roam across private land in search of food That could cause elk to end up on ranches eating feed intended for cattle and on private land causing property damage — a situation in many ways similar to the one that caused the feeding program to begin in the first place Supplemental feeding is also a major part of keeping elk numbers high enough to have liberal hunting a sport with a constituency that has considerable political sway in Wyoming Meet the eggstraordinary egg cussing what should be done “I think that they just have to work with those problems" said Gene Linn president of the Jack-so- n Hole Guides and Outfitters Association "We should just realize we’re in a situation where we're not going to get to a perfect situation" Rather than the current objective of 7500 on the Refuge in winter many outfitters would like to see a goal more in the neighborhood of 8000 or 9000 elk Linn said If the Refuge stopped feeding altogether Linn said the elk would cause other problems He said elk would consume forage for other species outside of the Refuge possibly causing declines in mule deer and bighorn sheep populations throughout the valley Andrea Lococo the Fund for Animals' Rocky Mountain coordinator based in Jackson said the animal rights and anti-hunti- group opposes supplemental feeding of wildlife “The fact is that we no longer have the winter range to support those numbers of elk and I don't think we're doing the elk a favor by feeding them” Lococo said Goals 17 The Mm Pag part of Th HtrMd Journals Newspaper ai Educator program ljfIjOUOMl moved along roads open to public traffic AP photo 7000 elk wintering on the Refuge a figure that was later amended to a maximum of 7500 in 1974 The size of the entire Jackson Elk Herd some of which spends winters in the Gros Ventre River valley and other areas off the Refuge is regulated by the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission The Commission set the herd's desired number at a very precise figure of 11029 elkj Management of the whole herd is handled cooperatively between Game and Fish the Elk Refuge Grand Teton National Park and the Bridgcr-Telo- n National Forest In each of the past 13 years before this winter the elk popula- made tremendous "I feci we've Park ranger lira a 75 mm recoHless rifle used to trigger avalanches in Yellowstone National Park More than 30 unexploded shells remain unaccounted for In the nation's oldest park and there likely are other errant rounds progress" said Alan Sumcriski Yellowstone's head explosives specialist “We still have a ways to go but I don't think anyone can say we're turning our heads to this" An explosives team later detonated the shell in a garbage pit “When we know of a dud we definitely consider it a hazard and we treat it as a very dangerous object" said Doug Abromeit director of the US Forest Service's National Avalanche Control Center “Often they're not likely to detonate but there's always that possibility” A 1990 report by the National Research Council said experience with military ordnance used in avalanche control suggests that 10 percent of dud explosives may later detonate spontaneously without any obvious trigger while the rest “remain fully armed in some unknown state of sensitivity" Explosives may grow more unstable with age “Because military ammunition is well constructed and sealed to withstand long artillery to control avalanches in the late 1970s as winter recreation in the park took off Teams initially borrowed a 103 mm recoilless rifle from the Army and fired shells onto snow-lade- n slopes above 8530-foo- t to Pass trigger avalanches so the Sylvan snow would not later slide and bury travelers on the road over the pass a mountainous gateway between Cody Wyo and the park's interior Not every 103 mm round detonated Searchers in 1997 recovered one unexploded 103 mm round that had deteriorated to the point it could no longer explode Park officials responding to a Freedom of Information Act request from The Gazette could find no further records of how many 103 mm shells were fired how many failed to explode or how many may such shells remain unaccounted for spend the winter in outlying areas but the liberal issuing of elk hunting licenses is also slowly bringing down the numbers People by virtue of the feeding program are responsible for the large number of elk surviving each winter in the face of minimal Jackson Hole winter range People are also primarily responsible for the bulk of elk deaths as weU through hunting As early as 1935 when state officials slaughtered 541 elk on the Refuge during one winter game managers have at various times tried to control the size of the elk population when they Rangers in Yellowstone began using decided it had grown too large In 1942 when there were 10000 elk on the Refuge by Nov 30 game managers again discussed how to control the num- Refuge biologist Bruce Smith said during the last 25 years an average of 15 percent of the elk on the Refuge die from exposure bers and the Game and Fish or malnutrition Department agreed to slaughter elk if it was deemed necessary According to Refuge records public opposition prevented that approach and game managers instead increased the number of hunting permits in ensuing years Locally outfitters have built businesses around guiding clients to hunt Jackson Hole elk and there is significant interest from many hunters and outfitters in ' keeping elk numbers high In recent years Game and Fish statistics show hunters kill an average of about 3200 elk each each winter Other herds in the northern Rockies that are not fed artificially lose anywhere from 1 percent or 2 percent in a very mild winter to 20 percent or more in a severe one he said Supplemental feeding though far from the only thing that the US Fish and Wildlife Service does to manage the National Elk Refuge' is unquestionably the heart of the operation Fish and “ Wildlife officials have fed the elk every winter all but nine years since the Refuge was established He Guts Left He Cuts Right He Saves! tion has exceeded manager's goals with herd numbers ranging between 13000 and 19000 and elk wintering on the Refuge ranging from 7680 to 10700 This winter for the first time in many years the number of elk on the Refuge was below objective at 7300 though the total herd is TIOSCUne Trimmer 105 lip (10 Sec ) SUVlIl H4 ptHHKk aitlinii I Iff 143SGS Sabre’ by John Deere I I ) h) 'itHnili iiHHierdedi - Syxvd sIiMiiihIhh) liwisinixiimi 1399' It's Spring Clean-u- p time in the Logan City residential area Once again Logan City residents have an opportunity to dispose of leaves tree trimmings and any unwanted accumulation of junk MIH THE EXCEPTION OF COMMERCIAL WASTE TIRES AUTOMOBILE BATTERIES AUTOMO- ADHESiyfSSEALANT&FESTlCIOESJlOLlSEllOLD GARBAGE CLEANERS AND ANY LIQUIDS Hie annual Household Hazardous Waste Collection day will be held from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm at the Logan City Service Center on April 17 PLEASE REMEMBER IN GUTTERS 325 Lawn and Garden Tractor I Mi) imxumkik 4H-w- Automatic tiunsmbtsion 5999' - NOTHING SHOULD BE PLACED HO Residents are encouraged to use the landfill Yard trimmings may be taken to the landfill compost operation at no cost as long as no garbage is included Landfill hours are 8:00 am to 5:30 pm until March 31 Beginning April 1 summer hours at the landfill will be from 8:00 am to 6:30 pm Monday through Saturday Please remember that uncovered loads are illegal and may result in a fine when entering the landfilL If you have any questions or need more information please call the Street Department at 750-9- l Off g with savings on most ot this lawn and garden equipment Ip to $21X1 off It can only be Deere Season From March 1 through July 5 1999 We cut Hie price Tlie yard Is up to you Visit your participating John Deere dealer's store today He wins convincingly The Environmental Health Department will be working in conjunction with the Street Department this year to collect branches and other compostable material We are asking you to place your branches and clean compostable Green Waste in a separate pile form the other trash and junk so that it can be collected separately and taken to the compost site instead of being buried at the landfill Appearing in dh HftiMgfml on Sunday March 28 tially live shell should never have been still estimated at about 15000 Managers attributed that to a mild early winter leading more elk to For this ONE TIME CLEAN-U- P crews will start working on the Northwest side of the City on APRIL 5 1999 and clean die west side of the City first Refuse should be placed on the parking strip not in the gutter prior to the time crews start working in your area Items not out prior to the time crews are covering your area WILL NOT be picked up and property owners will be responsible for their disposal by Betty Debnam station although experts now say the poten- YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK Wyo (AP) — One May day in 1995 a Yellowstone National Park visitor stopped in traffic near Sylvan Lake left his wife and child in his car walked up to park maintenance worker Dcvarold Selkirk and asked him to identify the item the man held in his hands Selkirk did It was an explosive shell designed and manufactured by the US Army primarily to destroy tanks during the Korean War The visitor said he had found the shell “up on lop of the mountain” apparently referring to Sylvan Pass near Yellowstone’s east entrance according to a park report If the shell had detonated inside the visitor's car experts say it would almost certainly have killed the man and his family A review of National Park Service records has found that more than 30 such unexploded military shells remain unaccounted for in three different places in Yellowstone Park where rangers lired them for avalanche control The "dud” rounds did not explode as expected and may still be fully armed experts say Park managers say the leftover shells rest in remote locations rarely if ever traversed by visitors or wildlife They are an unfortunate byproduct of an avalanche control program vital to the safety of winter visitors and snowplow operators who clear roads in the spring they say But park rangers as well as outside experts concede that such explosives pose a hazard especially since when fired they sometimes skip across snow like a stone across a pond or slide down hillsides in subsequent avalanches ending up far from the target zone and within reach of the public The park visitor who presented the shell to Selkirk proved the point Selkirk did not get (he man's name but took the shell “put Continued from Page term exposure to extreme environmental conditions duds may remain operational for years" the report said In 1997 park avalanche control teams traded the 73 mm recoilless rifle that fired most of the unexploded rounds for a more modem 103 mm howitzer which has so far yielded no duds officials said Military specialists predict that about 3 percent of 103 mm shells landing in snow will not explode as intended said Steve Abney of the Army's Rock Island Arsenal in Illinois which manufactures the shells Yellowstone officials say their attention to safety is demonstrated by the switch to the more reliable weapon their installation of new magazines to safely store shells with the howitzer stationed on Sylvan Pass improved training and their attempts to recover uncxplodcd rounds it in a soft place in the rear of the garbage truck" he was driving and took it to a ranger The Billings Gazette record-shatterin- Nothing Runs Like A Deere' HMnil ww MPMUN me 555 North 10th West Hours: As ‘ManuTactuWs Mon-Fr- mwet pnee 1 Tam 9:00-5:3- 0 tew Logan 753-194- 2 SaL and ifciwwy not included OKer 0:00-12:0- 0 rxH July 5 1999 (ton rum |