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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Wyoming considers change to nonresident elk hunter cap

A bull elk pauses on a trail in late September in Pend Oreille County in this still photo taken from the collection of videos captured on the trail camera.  (Jordan Tolley-Turner/The Spokesm)
By Brett French The Billings Gazette

Despite an increase in Wyoming elk populations, nonresident elk hunters could see a reduction in opportunity under a proposal from the state’s Wildlife Taskforce.

The group sent a recommendation to the Game and Fish Commission in June suggesting the 7,250 cap on nonresidents, implemented in the 1980s, be changed. The cap was set based on the average number of nonresident licenses sold back then and was not based on any biological factors.

“If implemented this measure could result in allocation of licenses in areas where additional elk harvest is needed and also provide additional options to manage hunter crowding,” the taskforce wrote to the commission.

Since the recommendations were issued, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s staff has been analyzing how best to accomplish the goal.

In November, the agency presented to commissioners a possibility that would drop the cap but implement quotas for 13 regions. The proposals, which the public still has time to comment on, wouldn’t be enacted until the 2024 season.

According to the department’s hunter surveys, between 2019 and 2021 an average of about 3,868 nonresident elk hunters have visited the state. Annually, about 150 nonresident tags are returned for various reasons. By allowing the 13 regions to recommend specific quotas tailored to existing public access and elk populations, the department is preliminarily recommending the number of nonresident tags issued be set at 4,325.

That’s a far cry from the 7,250 cap set in the 1980s. If hunter crowding is an issue in Wyoming, and nonresident hunter numbers have dropped so substantially, why is there crowding? Are more residents afield, or are hunters more concentrated on public lands because private property is less accessible than it was 40 years ago.

In eight of the 13 regions spread across the state, the quota for nonresidents would be higher than the average number of hunters for the past three seasons. Those range from a small increase in the southwestern Uinta region to a double digit bump from existing hunting in the Eastern and Jackson regions.

The quota for nonresident hunters would drop slightly in two other regions, including the Sierra Madre and Bighorns. West Green River would see only a minor drop. The Desert and Shirley Basin regions are both limited quota regions. In limited quota regions, nonresidents are allocated 16% of the total licenses.

An WGFD staff member told the commission this nonresident elk hunter quota is not what will finally be instituted because public feedback is likely to cause alterations. Instead, the numbers are seen as a starting point for discussion.

The recommendations also come with qualifications. For example, elk populations are over objective in Eastern Wyoming but public access is limited. In the Bighorn Mountains, elk tend to shift off of national forest lands onto private property if hunting pressure is too great, so WGFD is proposing a decrease in nonresident tags there. In the Jackson area near Grand Teton National Park, hunter use has shifted over the past 30 years from heavy backcountry use to more hunting along roads using vehicles and away from grizzly bears. And in 2020, nonresident hunting license sales fell in Wyoming by 6.6% due to the pandemic.

Regional proposals will be presented to the public during WGFD March season setting meetings.

The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission’s next meeting is Jan 11-12 in Cheyenne. The meeting will be held at the Cheyenne Headquarters, 5400 Bishop Blvd. The public is invited to attend in-person or online via ZOOM video conferencing and will have a chance to speak to the commission.

Planned informational presentations by the department will include an update on the outreach efforts regarding nonresident general elk licenses, the employee housing project in Jackson, the ongoing water feasibility study at Speas Hatchery, a programmatic overview of the Wyoming Wildlife magazine and mountain lion management.

The commission will be asked to approve black bear hunting seasons, the fiscal year 2023 budget for the Aquatic Invasive Species and the Statewide Mule Deer Initiative programs.

The full agenda is available on the Game and Fish website.