A long-awaited evaluation of northwest Wyoming’s elk feedgrounds kicks off in 2025 with the Jackson and Pinedale elk herds, two populations of wapiti that have long been lured toward human-doled hay humans line out in the winters. Whether the Wyoming Game and Fish Department overhauls the feeding system or merely tweaks it will depend, in part, on whether parties influential to wildlife policy buy into the proposed changes. At least one of those parties — big-game outfitters — is going into the process with an open mind, and will even consider supporting feedground closures under certain conditions.  “We’re going to work really hard to make sure that all the residents of the state of Wyoming know what the herd objectives are right now, and we are going to require the Game and Fish to maintain those,” Sy Gilliland, past president of the Wyoming Outfitters and Guides Association. “That said, if the herd objectives are maintained and protected, whatever happens with the feedgrounds is kind of a moot point.”  Gilliland said he’s open to multiple scenarios. Continuing with the elk feedgrounds could gain his favor, he said. But so could securing new winter range habitat that would enable feedgrounds to be closed.  “Whatever they come up with,” Gilliland said. “The key is to maintain the same number of elk on the landscape that we have now.”  The front end of a herd of 2,000 to 3,000 elk moves toward the rumble of a tractor plowing roads in January 2022 on the National Elk Refuge. The elk moved toward the tractor because they mistook it for a feeding truck. (Mike Koshmrl/WyoFile) Wildlife biologists who know the herds best and are most familiar with a grave threat to wild ungulates — chronic wasting disease — predict that ceasing feeding will chart the best course forward for the herds. Heeding the science is not a choice wildlife managers have the authority to make, however. Closing feedgrounds will also require buy-in from the governor and the Wyoming Livestock Board, due to a 2021 law. Additionally, Game and Fish’s new elk feedground management plan is structured in a way that inhibits top-down policy changes.  “This entire plan and any kind of actions that we take will require public support,” said John Lund, regional supervisor for Wyoming Game and Fish’s Pinedale Region.  Regional biologists and wardens, Lund said, are still working through what its process will look like for the Pinedale Herd review. They’re not yet sure if they will hold a series of public meetings or just one gathering.  The Pinedale Herd, which numbers roughly 2,000 elk, heads for the Muddy Creek, Scab Creek and Fall Creek feedgrounds to wait out winter in the Wind River Range foothills. Feedgrounds in the Green River Basin are historic, in operation since the 1940s, ‘50s and ‘60s.  “We’ll interact heavily with impacted stakeholders, for any decision that we make or any change that we’re going to make,” Lund said. “Say, a landowner or a cattle producer, we will be working closely with them and communicating with them.”  In Game and Fish’s Jackson Region, meanwhile, supervisor Brad Hovinga and his colleagues are starting with the Jackson Herd.  Some 2,000 elk abandoned feedgrounds in the Gros Ventre River drainage in 2010, migrating downriver to the National Elk Refuge. (Doug Brimeyer/Wyoming Game and Fish) “We felt like it was an appropriate place to start because of the processes with the Fish and Wildlife Service right now,” Hovinga said.  Historically one of Wyoming’s largest elk herds, with a goal of 11,000 animals, the Jackson Herd is drawn to the federally managed National Elk Refuge during the heart of winters. The refuge, which is 112 years old, has spent the last five years trying to wean the herd off of alfalfa pellets via a plan that dates to 2007 but wasn’t implemented until winter 2019-’20. For the most part, the tactics — delaying the onset of feeding in the winter, and ending it earlier in the spring — have not been effective.  “The ultimate goal was to reduce the number of elk wintering on the refuge to 5,000,” Refuge Biologist Eric Cole said. “It was always somewhat optimistic to assume, in a five-year time span, that we were going to achieve that.” During 2025, the refuge aims to complete an update to its 2007 plan, Cole said. A draft environmental impact statement outlining a proposal could come as soon as January or February, he said.  Concurrently, Game and Fish will be reviewing two state-run feedgrounds up the Gros Ventre River drainage that the Jackson Elk Herd also uses. Patrol Cabin and Fish Creek remained the only state-operated feedgrounds after the closure of the Alkali Feedground on the Bridger-Teton National Forest in 2019.  A small group of dedicated feeders doles out hay to elk daily for an average of 123 days each winter at Wyoming Game and Fish feedgrounds. (Mark Gocke/Wyoming Game and Fish Department) With only two feedgrounds under state jurisdiction, the Jackson Herd may be “the least complex,” Hovinga said.  “The National Elk Refuge is maybe not in our control,” he said. “The feedgrounds that we need to plan around, there’s less of them with less conflict potential than in some of the other areas of the state.”  Similar to the Pinedale area, Hovinga and the Jackson Region staffers will work closely with ranchers, outfitters and other stakeholders on any changes. Proposals will be outlined in a document called a “feedground management action plan” that will be developed for each herd. It’s not only parties that have historically championed elk feeding that will be trying to sway the outcome of the coming planning process.  “We’re not asking for a stop tomorrow,” said Jared Baecker, the Wyoming conservation manager for the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. “We recognize that this is a 100-year process, and it’s going to take some time.” “We do want the department to work with some urgency, because of the threats of diseases,” he added. “We think those are significant and real threats that need to be addressed as soon as possible.” RELATED Nat’l refuge tries to wean its elk off feed, and fails so far Fewer elk. Sicker elk. That’s what the experts expect if Wyoming keeps on feeding. The post Outfitters open to elk feedground changes as Jackson, Pinedale herd reviews begin appeared first on WyoFile .