VALUE OF ELK. 11 
level. These are mostly devoid of trees, but support a few groves 
of aspen poplar and an occasional juniper (Juniperus scopulorum), 
nut pine (Pinus flexilis), or Douglas spruce. These hills, especially 
during moist seasons, produce a growth of grasses and other her- 
baceous plants which are excellent for forage and, as their steep slopes 
are early bared of snow by the action of sun and wind, they furnish 
fine feeding grounds for both stock and game. 
In this fertile valley, with its luxuriant growth of forage and 
comparatively mild climate, most of the elk which summer in the 
adjacent mountains and in the great area of high country extending 
northward into the Yellowstone Xational Park have lately spent 
the winters. 
In former years large numbers, probably the great majority of those 
which summered in the high ranges of northwestern Wyoming, win- 
tered on the Red Desert and other parts of the comparatively low 
country lying to the southward. Occupation of these tracts by 
sheep, with its attendant persecution and gradual depletion of the 
range, has forced the elk to confine their southward movements within 
ever-narrowing limits. Within the past few years the further march 
of settlement into the higher valleys, with the attendant utilization 
of the range for cattle grazing, has caused a serious diminution in the 
natural food supply available each winter for the. elk. 
Thus, although elk probably became more numerous in Jackson 
Hole after settlement began, it is painfully evident that during the 
past few years the encroachments of civilization and coincident 
unfavorable winter conditions have resulted in serious inroads on 
their numbers. 
VALUE OF ELK TO THE REGION. 
Some of the most intelligent residents of Jackson Hole have esti- 
mated that the value of the elk to the region is equal to the revenue 
derived from stock raising, which is the principal industry. Others, 
while considering this estimate excessive, admit that the value of the 
animals is very great, and that without them the region under present 
conditions would not support nearly so large a population as it now 
does. Whatever the opinion of individuals on this point, it is evident 
that elk have plaved a very important part in the development of the 
region. Probably a majority of the more successful residents owe 
then start to the presence of these animals. Many trappers and 
hunters who were first attracted to this part of the State by the 
abundance of game, and later by the opportunities which it offered 
for acting as guides to visiting sportsmen, have now extensive stock 
interests and have abandoned their former pursuits, while others 
still guide hunting parties. 
The amount of money which the elk are instrumental in bringing 
into the country is very large. During the hunting season of 1910, 
