Newsletter Restoring Biodiversity - 11/8/2022 Chris Gill Nov 8, 2022 • 1 min read Articles“Because predation alone will not control elk numbers, reducing the Teton Park elk herd through hunting is essential to the health of elk populations.Removing hunting led to overpopulation. This harmed habitat. Huge feeding stations were intended to over-winter surplus elk, but an unintended consequence was that they spread elk diseases like CWD and brucellosis.Human hunting was always part of the natural balance. Returning hunting to these systems is just common sense management.VideosA Nebraska native, Thomas Mangelsen’s love of nature, his life outdoors and business success were heavily influenced by his father. An avid sportsman, Harold Mangelsen took his sons to favorite blinds along the Platte River in Nebraska to observe the great flocks of ducks, geese and cranes that migrate through the valley. From these adventures, Mangelsen learned important lessons for photographing in the field, most notably patience and understanding animal behavior.ike rivers, Yellowstone’s migration corridors have many tributaries. One of these passes through Pitchstone Waters Ranch. We see herds of as many as 100 elk exiting the national forest, passing through our meadows and across the Fall River, and then reentering national forest to the north. They are headed to their lower winter ranges to the west.Next spring they will come the other way.As a fundamental practice on our ranch, we work with national and state agencies to preserve and enhance these wild animal migration corridors by removing obstacles such as fences and choking undergrowth which obstruct passageways, and by improving our habitat to make it more hospitable to wildlife.
