Dumping of elk innards was legal, officials say

IDAHO FALLS – The owner of a Fremont County elk hunting preserve did nothing wrong when he dumped the guts of slaughtered elk outside his preserve, according to an investigation by state officials.

The Idaho Department of Agriculture launched a review of the disposal practices at Mike Ferguson’s Velvet Ranch at Meadow Creek Lodge after a Sept. 10 mauling of a bowhunter by a grizzly bear a half-mile from the private trophy elk preserve.

At the time, ranch neighbors and state wildlife managers speculated that bear activity in the area heightened after the 550-acre preserve opened for the season on Sept. 1. The ranch is about eight miles from Yellowstone National Park, where grizzly bears roam free, and at the time state wildlife officials estimated that there could be as many as seven grizzlies within five miles of the hunting pen.

Some questioned whether Ferguson’s handling and burial of elk guts and organs were to blame, and at least one resident filed a formal complaint after reportedly seeing guts scattered on the ground.

Mark Hyndman, senior livestock investigator for the Agriculture Department, toured the ranch Sept. 17, which included an inspection of the 35-foot-long, 4-foot-deep trench used to bury guts and organs.

Ferguson told Hyndman he covered the trench with dirt every three days, as required under state law.

“The area around the trench is clean and free of flies and odor,” Hyndman wrote in his report.

He returned two days later and found a pair of grizzly bears digging at the trench.

In response, Ferguson agreed to alter his burial methods, agreeing to bury the innards daily two feet deeper near the site where each animal is killed.

Prompted by the complaint, state officials are also reviewing the rules governing how to dispose of dead livestock.