ELK PLANTING PROGRAM 



In order to help bring the number of elk in the Northern Yel- 

 lowstone herd in line with available figures, a controlled reduction 

 of elk within Yellowstone Park was conducted by the Park Service 

 during the winter of 1949-50. During the course of this operation 

 there was considerable interest on the part of sportsmen and other 

 agencies and individuals to trap and transplant as many of these 

 elk as possible. 



Before transplanting could be done it was necessary to get agree- 

 ments signed by landowners and to have consent of administrators 

 of public lands involved. Much of this preliminary work was done 

 by department personnel and the department also participated in the 

 transplanting operations. 



A fine spirit of conservation was exhibited by sportsmen and in- 

 dividuals all of whom donated time and money to hire trucks for 

 transplanting elk. Sportsmen from Powell, Granite and Mineral coun- 

 ties arranged for trucks for restocking elk areas in those counties. 

 A rancher from Custer sent his own trucks to the Park and hauled 

 the elk to the Pine Ridge area located in Big Horn and Yellowstone 

 counties. 



The Park Service normally charges $5 per head of elk trapped as 

 the actual cost of trapping. This fee was waived during this opera- 

 tion because the Fish and Game Department supplied the hay used 

 to bait the traps. 



Below is a list of the areas and the numbers of elk transplanted 

 this season: 



Bull Cow Calf Total Area 



1 1 24 26 Superior (Mineral County) 



1 12 12 25 Pine Ridge (Yel. & Big Horn Counties) 



2 20 25 47 Horseshoe Hills (No. Gallatin County) 

 12 90 110 212 Garnet Range (Powell & Granite Cos.) 



16 123 171 310 TOTAL 



COMMENT ON HUNTER-RANCHER RELATIONS 



America is one of the few countries in the world which provides 

 public hunting and fishing. Almost one-third of the state is public 

 domain lands on which all persons may hunt, trap and fish accord- 

 ing to regulations. However, a great portion of the game birds, ante- 

 lope, deer and fish are taken annually on private lands — with the 

 tolerance of the owners thereof. Each succeeding hunting and fish 

 ing season adds to the number of private holdings posted to '"no 

 hunting or trespassing." Many landowners have expressed themselves 

 as preferring to suffer game damage rather than allow uncontrolled 

 hunting on their properties. 



A much greater effort on the part of sportsmen to give due 



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