Fence built to keep elk in refuge area

JACKSON, Wyo. – A fence has been built to keep elk from leaving the National Elk Refuge during the winter and mingling with cattle on a ranch.

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department last winter used snowmobiles and a helicopter to chase about 150 elk from a Spring Gulch cattle ranch and back onto the refuge.

Fencing along the edge of the refuge has drop-offs that funnel elk onto the refuge but prevent the animals from leaving, in part to keep them from crossing U.S. 89.

But elk were still able to leave the refuge through a small gap in the fencing near the Gros Ventre Bridge. The fence had been missing for years, likely removed during road construction, refuge Manager Barry Reiswig said.

Elk exploited the opening last winter to search for food because drought and a grasshopper infestation resulted in low production of natural forage.

That prompted refuge managers to begin feeding elk alfalfa pellets earlier than usual.