Dispatch from the South Fork Payette River

Spring in the Rocky Mountains. Snow packed peaks wedged into jet blue skies, and the sun actually felt warm. The snow pack is retreating very fast, and the valleys are snow free for the most part. There were lots of elk on the south Fork of the Payette River of Idaho, last week. They seemed to be in herds of 6-12 animals, and they looked good; a bit shaggy with their winter coats but otherwise they faired well this winter. The elk seemed to be everywhere I looked and you didn't need to look to hard. In the middle of the day there were herds along the river, in the lower and upper meadows, on the steep slopes. In the woods.

The elk herds in this region seem very healthy and plentiful. The wolves have done them good, by culling out the weak animals, keeping the herds of elk healthy. The elk are plentiful because of good management practices by the Idaho Fish and Game Department, and because the range is in very good shape. There are no domestic cattle to compete with the elk. They have a good winter range on the south slopes of the South Fork. There are few roads or trails in this region which promotes higher elk populations, because the elk like their isolation especially during calving.

I noticed several small stands of aspen in one canyon, each having 10-20 mature trees. These mature trees were probably 30 foot tall and they were surrounded by new aspen trees or shoots. There were hundreds of them, and they were all about 4 to 6 feet high. Most likely the wolves have kept the elk on the move which has kept them from overgrazing the aspen shoots which they so dearly love. The aspen appear to be thriving which is good for other wildlife, and it provides feed for the elk during the winter when the snow is deep.

I see no evidence of any sort that wolves are decimating elk herds. In fact it's quite the opposite. A robust population of wolves will allow other critters to thrive and protect the range from being overgrazed by elk. Diseased and injured elk are quickly removed from the herd by wolves which makes the rest of the herd stronger.

This could easily have been some location in Yellowstone Park. And how lucky to have this virtually in my back yard.