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July 22, 2002
Proposed elk plan would limit hunting, reduce profits for local communities
Russell Smyth, Montrose Daily Press
MONTROSE - Colorado Division of Wildlife officials are considering a plan that would create premium elk hunting on the Uncompahgre Plateau but reduce economic benefits to local communities.
The DOW will host a series of meetings beginning Tuesday to seek public comments on the 46-page draft Uncompahgre Plateau Elk Management Plan.
Wildlife officials are revising elk management plans that are growing outdated or that were developed without public input, said Bruce Watkins, a DOW terrestrial wildlife biologist based in Montrose.
"There's really not a plan per se," Watkins said about elk management on the Uncompahgre Plateau. "There are objectives that have been set. This was back in the '80s, and it really wasn't based on public comment."
Covering 2,262 square miles on the Uncompahgre Plateau west of Montrose, the plan represents a trade-off of benefits and drawbacks, Watkins said.
"It's a hard decision," he said. "We realize not everyone is going to be happy, but we are trying to weigh all the factors."
One of those factors is quality elk hunting. Under the draft management scenario, hunter success would increase from an average of 17 percent to 50 percent or higher, and a greater portion of the harvest would consist of older bulls.
The current plan, which divides the Uncompahgre Plateau between limited license sales, which are designed for quality hunting, and unlimited sales has not been effective, Watkins said.
Data Analysis Unit E-20 covers elk management on the Uncompaghre Plateau. "E" stands for elk; "D" stands for deer. The DOW manages deer under D-19 on the plateau. E-20 and D-19 are both divided into Game Management Units 61 and 62.
Encompassing 948 square miles, GMU 61 covers the southwest side of the plateau, according to the DOW. GMU 61 has been managed for quality elk hunting since 1983, but GMU 62, which covers 1,314 square miles to the northeast, still allows unlimited, over-the-counter license sales.
E-20 is the only elk data analysis unit in western Colorado managed under multiple strategies, according to the draft plan. GMUs 61 and 62 are separated by Divide and Dave Wood roads, not by any physical barrier, and Watkins said using two management strategies for one elk herd may be unrealistic. Since 1983, GMU 62 has accounted for 85 percent of the elk hunters in E-20.
"We really can't achieve the quality objectives we have for (GMU) 61 without putting 62 under quality management also," he said.
An average of 7,008 hunters pursued elk on the Uncompahgre Plateau during the 1995-2000 seasons, according to the DOW. Under the draft plan, the total number of elk hunters would decrease 50 percent and the number of bull elk hunters would decrease 71 percent.
The DOW estimates Uncompahgre Plateau elk hunters spent $4.7 million annually between 1997 and 2001 and that most of those expenditures occurred in local counties. Reducing hunter numbers would lower expenditures by an estimated $2.4 million.
When GMU 61 became a quality unit in 1983, the human population was small enough on the Uncompahgre Plateau's west end to prevent a large economic impact, Watkins said. Economic concerns prevented GMU 62 from moving into quality management.
Although hunter numbers will decrease under the proposed plan, the elk population will remain stable. Objectives in the current management plan call for a post-hunt population of 3,050 elk, but the "objective is based on early models that underestimated the population and is unrealistically low," according to the draft plan. The Uncompahgre Plateau's elk population has averaged around 9,000 since 1990, and the draft plan calls for a population ranging between 8,500 and 9,500 elk.
The Uncompahgre Plateau habitat probably would not support a larger elk herd, Watkins said.
"At some point you are going to get a population that is going to start degrading a habitat (if it grows too large)," he said. "We don't know what that population is. . . . We have had a population of about 9,000 elk, and . . . as the number goes up the chance (of degradation) increases. . . . We don't have any hard data because it's almost impossible to get, but from the habitat standpoint the conservative thing to say is we don't want any more elk up there."
The draft Uncompahgre Plateau Elk Management Plan is based partially on results from questionnaires the DOW distributed in fall 1998, Watkins said.
"We've developed a (draft) plan based on that public input . . . and based on discussions with federal land management agencies (as well as) our own internal input and goals," he said.
The public will be able to comment on the draft Uncompahgre Plateau Elk Management Plan, and the Colorado Wildlife Commission, which sets policies for the DOW, will hear comments on the plan during the Sept. 9-10 meeting in Canon City, Watkins said.
"Depending on what that public input is, we may make some changes to that draft plan," he said.
A final plan will be implemented in 2003.
For more information on the draft plan, call the DOW office in Montrose at 252-6000 or Bruce Watkins at 252-6025.
Proposed elk plan would limit hunting, reduce profits for local communities
Russell Smyth, Montrose Daily Press
MONTROSE - Colorado Division of Wildlife officials are considering a plan that would create premium elk hunting on the Uncompahgre Plateau but reduce economic benefits to local communities.
The DOW will host a series of meetings beginning Tuesday to seek public comments on the 46-page draft Uncompahgre Plateau Elk Management Plan.
Wildlife officials are revising elk management plans that are growing outdated or that were developed without public input, said Bruce Watkins, a DOW terrestrial wildlife biologist based in Montrose.
"There's really not a plan per se," Watkins said about elk management on the Uncompahgre Plateau. "There are objectives that have been set. This was back in the '80s, and it really wasn't based on public comment."
Covering 2,262 square miles on the Uncompahgre Plateau west of Montrose, the plan represents a trade-off of benefits and drawbacks, Watkins said.
"It's a hard decision," he said. "We realize not everyone is going to be happy, but we are trying to weigh all the factors."
One of those factors is quality elk hunting. Under the draft management scenario, hunter success would increase from an average of 17 percent to 50 percent or higher, and a greater portion of the harvest would consist of older bulls.
The current plan, which divides the Uncompahgre Plateau between limited license sales, which are designed for quality hunting, and unlimited sales has not been effective, Watkins said.
Data Analysis Unit E-20 covers elk management on the Uncompaghre Plateau. "E" stands for elk; "D" stands for deer. The DOW manages deer under D-19 on the plateau. E-20 and D-19 are both divided into Game Management Units 61 and 62.
Encompassing 948 square miles, GMU 61 covers the southwest side of the plateau, according to the DOW. GMU 61 has been managed for quality elk hunting since 1983, but GMU 62, which covers 1,314 square miles to the northeast, still allows unlimited, over-the-counter license sales.
E-20 is the only elk data analysis unit in western Colorado managed under multiple strategies, according to the draft plan. GMUs 61 and 62 are separated by Divide and Dave Wood roads, not by any physical barrier, and Watkins said using two management strategies for one elk herd may be unrealistic. Since 1983, GMU 62 has accounted for 85 percent of the elk hunters in E-20.
"We really can't achieve the quality objectives we have for (GMU) 61 without putting 62 under quality management also," he said.
An average of 7,008 hunters pursued elk on the Uncompahgre Plateau during the 1995-2000 seasons, according to the DOW. Under the draft plan, the total number of elk hunters would decrease 50 percent and the number of bull elk hunters would decrease 71 percent.
The DOW estimates Uncompahgre Plateau elk hunters spent $4.7 million annually between 1997 and 2001 and that most of those expenditures occurred in local counties. Reducing hunter numbers would lower expenditures by an estimated $2.4 million.
When GMU 61 became a quality unit in 1983, the human population was small enough on the Uncompahgre Plateau's west end to prevent a large economic impact, Watkins said. Economic concerns prevented GMU 62 from moving into quality management.
Although hunter numbers will decrease under the proposed plan, the elk population will remain stable. Objectives in the current management plan call for a post-hunt population of 3,050 elk, but the "objective is based on early models that underestimated the population and is unrealistically low," according to the draft plan. The Uncompahgre Plateau's elk population has averaged around 9,000 since 1990, and the draft plan calls for a population ranging between 8,500 and 9,500 elk.
The Uncompahgre Plateau habitat probably would not support a larger elk herd, Watkins said.
"At some point you are going to get a population that is going to start degrading a habitat (if it grows too large)," he said. "We don't know what that population is. . . . We have had a population of about 9,000 elk, and . . . as the number goes up the chance (of degradation) increases. . . . We don't have any hard data because it's almost impossible to get, but from the habitat standpoint the conservative thing to say is we don't want any more elk up there."
The draft Uncompahgre Plateau Elk Management Plan is based partially on results from questionnaires the DOW distributed in fall 1998, Watkins said.
"We've developed a (draft) plan based on that public input . . . and based on discussions with federal land management agencies (as well as) our own internal input and goals," he said.
The public will be able to comment on the draft Uncompahgre Plateau Elk Management Plan, and the Colorado Wildlife Commission, which sets policies for the DOW, will hear comments on the plan during the Sept. 9-10 meeting in Canon City, Watkins said.
"Depending on what that public input is, we may make some changes to that draft plan," he said.
A final plan will be implemented in 2003.
For more information on the draft plan, call the DOW office in Montrose at 252-6000 or Bruce Watkins at 252-6025.
