Ogden Daily Standard | 1919-11-26 | Page 11 | Elk Herds May Fare Hard in Wyoming and Montana

IK HERDS MAY FIRE j ID IN WHS iintji : Unprecedented snowfall, combined : :ih a hev crusting of the snow, has created a condition in Wyoming ami Montana which, according to District Pbrwter L F Kneipp. portends n , lard winter for elk in the vlclnitv of ' Yellowstone park. J Mr. Kneipp received word from 1 tiree supervisors in the vicinity of ' fcckson, Wyoming. In each case the port? told of elk herds being driven mm the hill-! to the valleys. Snow i wrered available grazing lands ln the j Ull, while inadequate fodder, due to -"ere drought conditions of last I' I nmraer. has created a serlouB short-1 ; Report? from Pinedale and Jack-n Jack-n are that the losses will be fery 'nJ'e during the winter unless 8 ; oderation of weather occurs. A large quantity of hay is necessary , "tide the animals over through the ' nl" It is estimated that there are j Jout 18,000 head of elk in the vicinitj . Jackson, while a similar number are a southern Montana. S.ate Game Warden W. T. Judkins ! t0 a tcleKram from District 2? F ?net9' rted that the i i fundn available for relief of th( I i amounted to $2,300. Four hun 1 j fired tons of hay were purchased yesterday yes-terday as well as a carload of cottonseed cotton-seed meal Th' cotton seed meal as el feed is an innovation and should it prove successful, practically all the elk may be saved To plaee hay where the elk herds will have access to it will cost approximately ap-proximately $35 for each ton of , hay distributed More than normal increases have occurred in elk herds in the past two years. Mild, open winters promoted good wintering for the herds nnd the percentage of deaths among calves was much below normal. Should a heavy winter occur and deprive the elk herds nf sustenance, it is thought that the deaths may more ihan off set i the increase of the last two years.