ORIGINAL: salukipv1
I read that I think CO was planning to feed the heard, I guess a long hard wet winter? This just seems crazy to me that a state would pay etc....to feed/artificially a herd? I guess they don't want severe die off, just seems very unnatural, I surprised the envrionmentalists arent raising a fuss over feeding? Just seems like they would let nature work its magic and work more towards managing the heards, setting harvest numbers etc...
CO was planning on feeding their deer herds in some parts of the state. The deep, blowing snow was hammering them pretty good. Coors-Molson donated a bunch of grain for the effort, so the state didn't actually have to pay for the grain. I heard Utah herds were getting hit pretty good too, but haven't read anything about it.
WY has been feeding elk herds during the winter for a long time. It makes a lot of sense if you stop to think about it. Elk are worth a lot more to the state's economy when they're alive. Hunters, business owners, and naturalist alike benefit from supplementary feeding because it assures there will still be elk alive for everyone to enjoy. It also reduces conflicts between ranchers and elk.