Elk Reduction Program Begins

The only hunt in a national park, referred to as Grand Teton National Park’s  annual Elk Reduction Program, will begin Saturday.  Under its 1950 enabling legislation, Grand Teton is mandated by federal law to conduct an elk reduction program — when necessary — for the conservation of the elk population in Jackson Hole. The legislation also directs the park to jointly develop the annual program with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, and for the Governor of Wyoming and Secretary of Interior to approve the plan each year.  Biologists and administrators from both agencies reviewed available biological data and concluded that the elk reduction program is necessary in 2011 to help keep the Jackson elk herd at or near objective, and to facilitate maintaining a desired summer distribution of elk in the herd’s range.  The elk reduction program utilizes Wyoming-licensed hunters that apply for and receive limited quota permits in Wyoming hunt areas 75 and 79, which are both inside the park east of the Snake River. A map showing specific park locations open to hunters participating in the elk reduction program is available at the Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center in Moose.