Hunters who hunt elk in hunt areas 13, 15, and 21 will have the opportunity to be involved in a wildlife study investigating the potential impacts from beetle kill downfall trees on elk and hunters that use the Sierra Madre portion of the Medicine Bow National Forest. The beetle kill study is a cooperative study between the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) and the U.S. Forest Service’s Secure Rural Schools Resource Advisory Committee for the Medicine Bow National Forest.
The epidemic of mountain beetle kill within pine forests of the west has been well
documented with more than 1.5 million acres of forest in northern Colorado and southern Wyoming affected. Tree mortality has drastically changed the landscape and may impact elk and elk hunters in the Sierra Madre Portion of the Medicine Bow National Forest. “There is a long list of possible impacts from the changes that will occur with beetle kill to consider,” says Baggs Wildlife Biologist Tony Mong. “Impacts to elk could include: the ability of elk to move through the landscape due to fallen logs, increased vegetation regeneration, or beetle kill management activities, the ability of hunters to access elk hunting areas, a loss of hiding cover which may change traditional use areas, increased cripple loss due to tougher tracking conditions, decreased harvest availability by hunters due to fallen trees and/or increased
degradation of forest ecosystem health and wildlife habitat due to higher numbers of elk from a loss of hunter participation in beetle kill areas.” Mong said as part of the initial effort to gather information to educate resource managers and the public, the study is focusing on the movement of elk and hunters in relation to beetle kill downfall using Global Positioning System (GPS) technology.
The epidemic of mountain beetle kill within pine forests of the west has been well
documented with more than 1.5 million acres of forest in northern Colorado and southern Wyoming affected. Tree mortality has drastically changed the landscape and may impact elk and elk hunters in the Sierra Madre Portion of the Medicine Bow National Forest. “There is a long list of possible impacts from the changes that will occur with beetle kill to consider,” says Baggs Wildlife Biologist Tony Mong. “Impacts to elk could include: the ability of elk to move through the landscape due to fallen logs, increased vegetation regeneration, or beetle kill management activities, the ability of hunters to access elk hunting areas, a loss of hiding cover which may change traditional use areas, increased cripple loss due to tougher tracking conditions, decreased harvest availability by hunters due to fallen trees and/or increased
degradation of forest ecosystem health and wildlife habitat due to higher numbers of elk from a loss of hunter participation in beetle kill areas.” Mong said as part of the initial effort to gather information to educate resource managers and the public, the study is focusing on the movement of elk and hunters in relation to beetle kill downfall using Global Positioning System (GPS) technology.
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