Number: 1985-11
WHEREAS, modern wildlife management methods include hunting as a necessary and many times vital tool in proper wildlife management; and
WHEREAS, the United States Congress in 1950, after a thorough series of public and Congressional hearings over a period of years, passed the act of September 19, 1950, Section 6 (64 Stat. 851) which expanded Grand Teton National Park and included a provision to allow hunting of elk to reestablish the traditional migration routes in Grand Teton National Park; and
WHEREAS, the purpose of this provision is to provide necessary management by the State and the Park Service of a substantial segment of the total Jackson Hole herd that summer and migrate in and from Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks to the National Elk Refuge; and
WHEREAS, because of land ownership patterns there is no other viable opportunity for the necessary herd reductions without which there would be overpopulation; and
WHEREAS, because the carrying capacity of the winter range is limited (over 1900 sq. miles summer, 200 sq. miles winter) the elk population must be maintained at a level commensurate with available winter forage and the logistical constraints of supplemental feeding; and
WHEREAS, the National Wildlife Federation recognizes the critical status of habitat and its relationship to maintenance of a healthy elk herd in the winter range of the Grand Teton National Park elk and further recognizes that regulated hunting is the most viable method of maintaining herd segment balance and supports such action; and
WHEREAS, the law mandates that the State Game and Fish Department and the Park Service meet annually to review and recommend management plans that then must be approved by the Governor and U.S. Secretary of the Interior, before a hunt can take place;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation, in annual meeting assembled March 14-17, 1985, in Arlington, Virginia, supports the harvesting of elk on Grand Teton National Park as stipulated in Public Law; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation applauds this interagency approach which underscores the fact that national parks cannot be managed in isolation.