In elk population reduction, Colorado Parks and Wildlife biologist finds a silver lining

For 36 hours last month, Colorado Parks and Wildlife Biologist Eric Vannatta rode in a McDonnell Douglas 500 helicopter as a part of a team tasked with counting the number of elk ranging in the state’s northwest region.

Taking off from the Steamboat Springs airport and flying across Routt and Jackson Counties at an altitude of 200 to 400 feet off the ground, the biologist said it was easy to spot a bull moose by its rack of horns. But with a herd of elk, the helicopter would need to drop down to between 100 and 200 feet of elevation to take a closer look.

“At that elevation, you can distinguish between a calf and a cow,” Vannatta noted. “We are actually trying to find these animals and classify them into age and sex classes.”

Distinguishing between the number of calves, cows, two-and-a-half-year-old bulls (or rag horns), and mature bulls allow CPW biologists to produce ratios to determine the size and health of the local elk population.

The figures, collected annually from CPW districts across the state, are then used to set the number of licenses issued to hunters as part of a wider effort to control population for the big game animal.

This year’s count in CPW Area 10 is particularly important after record-setting snowfall levels recorded in the 2022-2023 winter season took a toll on the local elk population, which is known as the Bears Ears Elk Herd.

Between 2015 and 2022, the state’s wildlife agency recorded the Bears Ears Elk herd’s population at between 15,000 and 24,000 animals each year. The herd — which ranges in an area north of U.S. Highway 40 between the continental divide to the east and the Little Snake River in Moffat County to the west — is one of the largest in Colorado, where 303,190 elk were counted in 2022, according to CPW’s estimates.

Vannatta said the agency’s goal is to keep the Bears Ears Herd numbers between 15,000 and 18,000 elk each year, but last winter’s precipitation brought those numbers closer to between 9,000 and 10,000 animals — a population reduction of more than 30% compared to the year prior.

“Last year was probably one of the worst winters we have had on record from a wildlife standpoint,” explained Vannatta. “Certainly, if you are a skier, it was phenomenal, but the unique thing about last winter was how much snow we had at low elevations.”

While between 300 and 800 elk — referred to as the “resident Steamboat herd” — stay put in the area during the winter, most of the animals migrate to Moffat County to enjoy low-elevation winter rangeland where they feast on sagebrush and other vegetation.

“That is a huge area of winter range and that got hit way harder than it typically does,” Vannatta said. “There were three to five feet of snow out in the sage and it just persisted, it lasted a really long time — we had snow that lasted clear until April of last year.”

Typically, Vannatta said calf survival rates for the Bears Ears Herd vary between 60-80% and cow survival rates range between 85-90%.

“Last year, calf survival was around 20 to 25%, so we lost 75 calves out of every 100 that went through the winter,” the biologist added. “And cow elk was around a 60% loss, so both cohorts took a substantial hit.”

As a result of the heavy snowfall last winter, CPW published a news release last week warning local hunters to be ready for a reduction in in big game hunting licenses in 2024 for northwest Colorado ahead of the primary draw application period set to open March 1.

But while hunters may be disappointed with the number of licenses issued to hunt the big game animal, there is cause for encouragement over the ability for the local elk population to bounce back.

“The silver lining is all of that moisture,” Vannatta explained. “Moffat County has been experiencing really a prolonged drought over there, and the quality of that winter range is not great because there’s very little precipitation in the summer … As a society, our attention is sometimes limited and we want to see really quick changes, but we just need to remind ourselves that the next couple of years, there are going to be fewer animals, but five years from now I could see us coming up to that population range we want to see.”

The CPW biologist noted that the heavy layer of snow covered the sagebrush to a point where the elk could not access their main food source. The vegetation then entered the spring season in solid condition and enjoyed the benefit of “an incredible amount of moisture,” while “the remaining (elk) that did survive probably had a really exceptional year as far as nutrition goes.”

Vannatta predicted that if the region strings together two or three average snowfall winters, such as the one being experienced this year, the elk population would likely rebound to the 15,000-18,000 levels, allowing the agency to issue more hunting licenses.

Additionally, he said fire mitigation work planned by the U.S. Forest Service for the Rabbit Ears Pass area could also present a boon to elk population growth.

In November, the federal forest agency announced plans to pursue a project aimed at dealing with roughly 3,000 acres of timber impacted by a mountain pine beetle infestation in a section of the Routt County National Forest area. The work is expected to last for up to 10 years and would include a mix of timber harvesting and prescribed burns to eliminate the presence of the beetles and create shaded and unshaded fuel breaks.

Vannatta said the U.S. Forest Service project, and the pastures and meadows it would create within the continuous forest area, would create conditions beneficial to the local elk population.

“Elk really rely on grasses and flowering plants to eat, so if you have more sunlight hitting the forest floor, you are going to have better vegetation response — that is going to bode well for them and fire does that, too.”