The elk stream down from South Yellowstone and the Tetons, to gather on the feeding grounds where they spend all winter without making any effort to find natural forage. The daily arrival of the hay sled signals the only activity, namely, a jostling among the animals to be first in line as the bales are dropped. Tourists ride among them on sleighs. These elk have lost their independence. Like the Canada geese at Horseshoe Lake, and more recently at Horicon.
Fear of man is lost.
Wildness is forfeited. A cooperative program is underway between the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, the Park Service, the Forest Service and the State of Wyoming to rehabilitate this herd by breaking the hay habit. Limited hunting on the refuge is eliminating the earliest arrivals and pushing the main herd back into the hills where good winter forage is available. Hopefully the herd can be weaned to natural foods, precluding the need for the feeding program. Again, the lesson to be derived seems to be, avoid excessive artificiality in refuge management.