R-UiSiITi 1/13/33 



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Hole territory the state of Wyoming orou.ght some iiay for the elk. Wyoming 

 also asked for help from the Federal -:-overnment and about three years later 

 the government established the Elk Refuge near Jackson. Since 1911, in fact 

 the state and Federal governments have been buying feed to carry the Jackson 

 Hole herd through the winter. 



But, now, that winter feeding brings up another problem.. 



. IXiring the early days , the herd from year to year was about the sa^ne 

 size. Old Mother l\rature kept the herd at a size she could conveniently feed 

 and handle. 



But, when Man pushed into the elk country, he upset the balance. When 

 he began to talce the lion' s share of the feed, he had to ration out a little 

 hay to the elk or the elk would starve out altogether. ' He also had to regulate 

 hunting. But just how far should he go in his protection? If he nursed the 3lk 

 along too far, the herds would increase. Year by year, they would demand more 

 winter feeding. But, more than that, they would soon become so plentiful they 



would destroy the ranges and they would die off from disease. They would thus 



defeat the purpose of the protection. 



So Man had to set about to find a way to limit the herd to the carrying 



capacity of the summer range in other words, to restore Old Mother Nature' s 



balance that he upset with his fa,rms, and fences, and cattle. 



Dr. W.B. Bell, of the Biological Survey, tells me the men who have 

 studied the elk in the Jackson Hole region have set its carrying capacity at 

 about 20 thousand head. From time to time, with the help of the Forest Service 

 and the State, the Biological Survey men estimated the number of elk wintering 

 in the region a.s a guide to the State in fixing hunting regulations. Last year, 

 they counted the elk from an airp-lane. Their count showed 19,855 head. 



The men in the Biological Survey are also studj^ing the elk' s breeding 

 habits, and diseases, and insect pests, and enemies. 



One of the biologists 0» J. Ivfurie has, daring the past five years, 



virtually lived with the elk. H!e has a home in the Jackson Hole region and 

 canps around over the range to stud;-" the elk in their natural conditions. 



Murie's findings and the findings of the other biologists will enable 



us to save one of our fine;' -'iid animals from extinction. 



Those findings will also piotect an important industry. For, in the 

 Jackson Hole country, the elk industry is aore important than the livestock 

 industry or any other type of farming. Many folks in that region get a good 



part or all ■ of their incom.e from the thousa„nds of tourists and hunters who 



come to see or to hunt the elk. Those folks furnish the hunters and tourists 

 supplies and horses, and act as giaides. The elk herd also helps the market 

 for hay and brings in considerable tevenuefrom hunting licenses. 



So, the elk industry really means as much to the Jackson Hole co'ontry 

 as does the potato industry to Idaho or Maine, or the citrus industry to 

 California or Florida, or wheat and cotton to the Mid-West. 



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AMOUUCEICTT : And that concludes today's visit with Uncle Sam's Naturalists. 

 The United States Biological Survey will bring us another story about our wild 

 life at this same time two weeks from today. 



