Elk Require Tranquility In The Winter Foundation Offers Tips To Avoid Stressing Big Game In Cold Winter

Zipping along on a snowmobile takes gasoline for energy, not fat reserves.

It’s different for the elk running away from the machine.

People who fear that Idaho’s big game animals are suffering as winter recreation grows in popularity are distributing a flier to make that clear. At the request of the Targhee National Forest, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation is distributing a brochure to educate people about how difficult it is to be a wild animal when it’s cold.

“It’s just a constant concern for those of us who work closely with wildlife,” said Jennifer Knox, who wrote and edited the brochure for the conservation foundation. “We want people to understand that when they’re out there, even though they might think they’re not having much effect, any little stress can mean the difference between life and death for wildlife.”

Targhee managers asked the foundation to publish such a flier after it became apparent that winter recreation in the forest would continue to spiral upward no matter what they did. Though they could limit travel in prime winter habitat - as they have with a new travel plan - they could not eliminate it.

“This has always been a concern,” said Targhee’s transportation planner, Leon Bleggi. “It’s just another whistleblower to get people informed.”

The brochure is a simple, fold-out pictorial that explains big game generally spend winter in low valleys and need to relax in order to preserve energy to survive the cold.

“Fleeing from a dog or overzealous wildlife watchers demands more energy than wintering wildlife can afford to give,” it reads. “Without some of their fat reserves left in early spring, many animals will still starve to death or die from related causes, even as the first signs of spring green-up appear.”

The brochure advises people to play away from the valleys, or at least move away from wildlife they see.

It doesn’t target any form of recreation, because all forms can hurt, Knox said.

“You really can’t pin it on one individual thing,” she said.

“Somebody on cross-country skis can seem as threatening to an elk as someone on a snowmobile. It’s people trying to get too close to an animal, and our pets too.”

What prompted the effort was expanding recreation on the Targhee and a proposed expansion of Grand Targhee Ski Resort, Knox said. But when wildlife managers saw it, and saw how positively the public received it when it came out this month, they requested that it be distributed in other regions and states. The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation is planning to follow up with similar brochures for other states.

For more information, contact the foundation at 1-800-CALL-ELK.