LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. 
U. S. Department of Agriculture. 
Bureau of Biological Survey. 
Washington, D. C, Xovember 1. 1911. 
Sir: I have the nonor to transmit herewith for publication as 
Bulletin No. 40, a Report on the Condition of Elk in Jackson Hole, 
Wyoming, in 1911, by Edward A. Preble, assistant in the Biological 
Survey. At the last session of the sixty-first Congress an item was 
incorporated in the appropriation for the Biological Survey "for the 
feeding, protecting, and removal of elk in the country known as 
Jackson's Hole and vicinity, in the State of Wyoming. " Steps were 
immediately taken to obtain the information necessary to enable 
the Biological Survey to undertake intelligently and effectively the 
solution of the elk problem in Wyoming. Mr. Preble was directed 
to proceed to Jackson Hole, and Mr. D. C. Xowlin, formerly game war- 
den of the State, was appointed as his assistant. They were in- 
structed: (1) To make a thorough examination of existing conditions, 
to ascertain approximately the number of elk which perished by 
starvation, and to collect all available data respecting the life history 
and local distribution of the animals; (2) to cooperate with the State 
in feeding the elk and to arrange for obtaining a supply of feed for 
the winter of 1911-12; (3) to investigate the feasibility of transferring 
a few animals to other parts of the State or to game preserves in other 
States where nucleus herds might be established under Federal or 
State auspices. Upon arrival in Jackson Hole Messrs. Preble and 
Xowlin found that the State had already purchased and was feeding 
all the hay available and nothing further in this direction could be 
done except to make arrangements for the following winter. On 
account of the lateness of the season and the impassability of the 
roads it was practicable to make only one experimental shipment of 
elk, and 12 animals were successfully transported across Teton Pass. 
Seven of these were shipped to the National Bison Range, in Montana, 
and 5 to the Wichita National Game Refuge, in Oklahoma. All 
of them arrived in good condition and are doing well. 
The Biological Survey has undertaken not merely temporary relief 
during one or two severe winters, but an investigation, in cooperation 
with the State of Wyoming, of the broader problem of the mainte- 
nance of the elk herd of Jackson Hole as one of the important re- 
sources of the State and as a permanent source of income. Such an 
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