Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1911-03-19

OF the settlers. with grainneids and hay
meadows instead Of former dry sage brush /
flats. the country will support more elk
today than in the past. During the winter !
Of 1889 for instance and during 1895 and
other later dates thousands died OF starva- 1
tion. These are trying times for the settler |
who must sleep by his haystack during /
the cold winter night to save the scanty
supply for his stock. and who may be
awakened during the night to find elk
standing over him feeding. When they are
starving hardly any kind OF fence will stop
them; they roam at will over all the
ranches devouring everything in sight that
can be eaten even to willow brush one-half
inch in diameter In the winter of 1905, the
elk came down unusually early and had
all the open RANGE eaten off by January
/, being in a short time thereafter In starv-
ing condition. SO desperate was the stu
alton that the settlers for q period fed
twenty loads OF hay daily to at least 5000
starving animals, barely enough to keep
them alive; and though the hay could
hardly be spared from the stock the feed
ing was kept up till the greatest danger
was past. Even then the loss was great
fully IS per cent OF the calves, together
with many old elk, dying Last winter the
situation was just as alarming; the elk
were beginning to die at a fearful rate
when a thRw set I'M winter broke up one
month earlier than usual and saved them.
When Governor 3. B. Brooks rode over
the valley early in March. 1910, the remain
ing elk we're safely on the road to the
park, but he saw dead ones lying around
the hay pens and scattered over the
meadows, and concluded that JRckson's
Hole was not big enough to winter all the
altr mn AZ be randa for their
winters maintenance, but where shall it
be-. The former winter range Is now oc-
cupied by settlers and their herds, and It is
not Just nor practicable TO retard the de-
velopment Of the country and the upbuild-
ing of prosperous communities for the
game; but a solution should be sought and
found whereby the upbuldlng OF the coun-
try can go on and the game be saved.
Congress Appealed To.
Two years ago the Wyoming legislature
passed a memorial to congress- asking for
winter refuge for elk on the Gros Ven
ire river a tributary of Snake river into
Jackson's Hole from the east. This country
! is so much higher than Jacksons Hole
that during a hard winter 1t would be Inn
! possible to keep them there. 1t would make
good summer range, but to prohibit the
| ETALlnB Oh. SlOGh anu al hunting - N'fhN
country would make matters worse; be-
sides there are 5000 acres Of good agricul-
tural land open to homestead entry in
Jackson's Hole, and il the development
and Improvement OF this valley is to go on
| the Gros Ventre country is needed as a
! summer range fer stock.
The natural increase from the 5O'VOO elk
supposed to be in northwest wyoming 10
| 1000 to 5000 head yearly. About 1000 are
1 legitimately killed each year.
1t has been suggested that the settlers
be driven out of Jackson's Hole and the
entire valley given the elk as winter re-
sort. Suppose this were done and the val
/ ley made portion Of the Yellowstone Park.
l and all hunting and grazing Of domestic
I stock prohibited, the valley during an ordi-
nary winter would support 5000 head Of
elk, which, II protected from hunters and
hard winters, would double in number
every three vars.