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Area meetings set on proposed elk plan
By The Standard News Services - 08/18/2008
A series of meetings are planned to discuss proposed changes to the state’s Elk Management Plan in several west-central Montana
hunting districts.
Hosted by the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, all the meetings start at 7 p.m. and will be held at the following places:
Aug. 27, Potomac Community Center
Aug. 28, Helmville Community Center
Sept. 2, Anaconda Ancient Order of Hibernians Hall
Sept. 3, Deer Lodge Community Center
Sept. 4, Hall Café.
Objectives for elk numbers were set for each
hunting district in the state when the Elk Plan was finalized in 2005. Since then, the FWP Commission established the new elk hunting district 298 in the Blackfoot Valley, near Helmville,
creating the need to set an elk objective for this
district.
Portions of hunting districts 291, 292, and 293 were removed to form the new district near Helmville, necessitating adjustments to the elk objectives in the remainders of these
districts.
In much of the Clark Fork Valley, east of Missoula, FWP recently changed its method of counting elk by conducting aerial surveys in the mid-winter instead of spring. Elk visibility was greater in the winter, so FWP recorded higher counts even though actual numbers of elk on the landscape may not have changed. FWP proposes to change elk objectives in hunting districts 210, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215, and 216 to account for the new survey method.
FWP also wants to use the meetings as opportunities to check in with people
regarding their level of
satisfaction with current elk numbers on the landscape.
“Elk objectives are only useful if they incorporate the desires and expectations of landowners and the public in addition to the biology, so we need to check in from time to time,” said Mike Thompson, FWP Region 2 Wildlife Manager.
For more information, contact the Missoula FWP office at 542-5500.
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