North Hills Herd: Large The Role of Hunting and Growing Missoula’s elk hunters don’t have to drive far from For More Information With one exception, the Living home to find places to hunt. The hunters aren’t just Managing Missoula's Elk Herds size of Missoula’s elk doing themselves a Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks With herds has been stable in favor when they 542-5500 recent years. The take an elk home; fwp.mt.gov Wildlife

Shawn Cleveland Shawn Cleveland exception is the North they’re also doing a Hills herd, which has about Learning About Missoula's Elk Herds favor to the herds Hellgate Hunters and Anglers A GPS radio collar records the 300 elk and is growing location of this cow elk. and their habitat. www.mhfj.org/MissoulaElkHerds/Index.htm

rapidly. Kristi DuBois Other than the The North Hills herd spends much of the hunting Some Rattlesnake hunters use two- occasional bitter Protecting Land in Western Montana season on public and private lands where access is wheeled pack stock. Five Valleys Land Trust winter, hunting is difficult or restricted. Another factor in the herd’s 549-0755 about the only control on the size of Missoula’s elk growth is its access to grasslands owned by North www.fvlt.org herds. If elk numbers aren’t kept in line with the Hills ranchers from Rattlesnake to Butler Creeks. The available habitat, elk can overgraze their ranges. City of Missoula Open Space herd feeds well during the winter, but at the expense Missoula Open Space Program of grass ranchers intended to feed their cattle. In In addition, hunting helps keep elk wary of people, a 552-6267 addition, elk damage the ranchers’ fences. trait that’s important when elk and people are living www.ci.missoula.mt.us/parksrec/openspace.htm close to one another. Elk can become unwelcome During several winters, damage hunts have neighbors, occasionally threatening or injuring people, Conservation of Elk and Their Habitat discouraged elk use on ranches between Grant Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation when they lose their fear of humans—as has and Butler Creeks. An early elk season in the 523-4500 happened in several communities across the West, Rattlesnake Wilderness and some adjoining lands www.rmef.org including Banff, Alberta, and Estes Park, Colorado. was established in 2006 to help control this herd. Weed Control The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks Missoula County Weed District and the University of Montana have outfitted elk 258-4200 www.mslacountyweed.org from the North Hills herd with radio collars to learn more about the herd and its response to Public Lands Used by Elk

management. Lolo National Forest, Missoula Ranger District Mary Beth Percival The Mount Jumbo Herd: Stable Elk on Mount Jumbo. Used with permission from Five Valleys Land Trust. Conditions are different for the 50 to 75 elk in the Mount Jumbo herd that winters just to the east. Hunters have relatively easy access to the herd and the herd’s winter Missoula’s range isn’t as large or as productive as that claimed by Kristi DuBois Elk the North Hills herd. So the Mount Jumbo herd must be The North Hills elk herd grazes above homes in a Grant Creek managed much more conservatively than the North subdivision. Herds Hills herd. Hub of Six Herds Making Winter Ranges More Valuable After the snow melts in the spring, the elk stay on the In many areas, knapweed, leafy spurge, and other What You Can Do to Help Missoula, the hub Missoula’s Elk Herds winter ranges to take advantage of the new growth of of five valleys, is noxious weeds have replaced the native green grass. This time is critical because cow elk also the hub of six bunchgrasses that support wildlife. Weed control is Respect seasonal closures on elk winter ranges. elk herds. Winter depend on the new grass to nourish the calves they crucial to keeping the winter ranges in the best ranges for these are carrying. Elk leave their winter ranges sometime in condition possible for the elk. Grants from the Encourage additional protection for elk winter ranges. herds ring town: in May, usually before the cows give birth. Missoula County Weed and Conservation Districts, Cinnabar Foundation, and the Rocky Mountain Elk the Miller and It's important that elk continue migrating to their Encourage the use of wildlife-friendly fencing. O’Brien Creek summer ranges each year rather than spending the Foundation have helped control weeds and improve drainages, in the entire year along the fringes of town, as has happened habitat for Missoula’s elk herds. Wildlife-friendly Support efforts to manage weeds on elk winter North Hills, on in other areas of the West. If elk lost their migratory fences can help landowners control cattle and horses ranges.

Pelah Hoyt Mount Jumbo, and patterns, winter ranges would be overgrazed and the while allowing safe passage for elk and deer. The Missoulians keep a close eye on the benefit for ranchers is that elk aren’t nearly as likely to Support efforts to keep Missoula’s elk herds from Mount Jumbo herd. in the hills near elk and their habitat would suffer. Some forms of growing larger than their winter ranges can Evaro and Lolo. About 800 elk spend the spring, seasonal public use, such as allowing hiking from damage such fences. support. summer, and fall in the mountains, returning to mid-May to December 1, can help encourage the elk Missoula’s valleys each winter. It’s not unusual to see to migrate back into the mountains for the summer. Thank the private landowners who provide Traditional barbed- much of the winter range for Missoula’s elk elk from town, particularly when they’re grazing on Protecting Winter Ranges wire fences can be tough on elk—and herds. Mount Jumbo or the North Hills. Western Montana’s rapid growth can mean less space, elk can be tough on Surviving the Winter fences. Enjoy Missoula’s wild elk. less security, less cover, and less forage for wintering Tom Bauer, Missoulian In Montana, the productivity of winter ranges elk and deer. Winter recreation can displace elk from (where elk spend most of the winter months) their preferred feeding and bedding sites, forcing usually controls the size of elk herds. Most of the elk them to use their depleted energy reserves. These elk return to their winter ranges by December 1, when may be more vulnerable to predation by uncontrolled snows have made the mountains inhospitable. Elk dogs, mountain lions, and possibly wolves. Evaro build up fat during the summer and fall that enables During the past 25 years, portions of the winter ranges them to survive the lean times of winter. But long of the Mount Jumbo, North Hills, and O’Brien Creek elk North Hills periods of extreme cold or a freeze that locks forage herds have been permanently protected through land in ice can mean starvation for elk. trades, purchases, and conservation easements. Little Mount Jumbo O’Brien Creek The North Hills herd wintering on protected lands in Grant protection has been provided for winter ranges used by the Miller Creek, Lolo, and Evaro herds. The Missoula County open space bond issue passed Miller Creek by voters in the fall of 2006 could help provide Lolo additional protection for the winter ranges, ensuring that Missoula will be the hub of six elk herds for centuries to come. Bert Linder