Elk hunting has long been synonymous with Colorado. However, issues like drought, severe winters, fencing and residential development are creating potential long-term problems for herd health and resilience.

Last month, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) released a report concerning the state’s 10-year herd management plan, noting there are only so many tools at their disposal. However, one tool CPW is using is hunting licenses to manage herd population and bull to cow ratios. The problem is there’s no real way to manage cow-calf rations, which illustrate the long-term health of specific herds. In Colorado, those ratios have dropped substantially since the 1980s, according to Sky-Hi News.

Julie Mao, CPW wildlife biologist, said “the ratio 40 years ago was roughly 60 calves for every 100 cows [….and…] today is in the mid- to upper-30s” showing that “herds today are less resilient.”

The biggest factor in long-term herd health is habitat loss, which district wildlife manager Brian Woodrich said is out of the agency’s control. In fact, many of the areas where elk numbers are dropping, are found in areas where development and population density have increased.

While the study is on-going, some like Marcia Gilles, the Eagle County government’s director of the Open Space and Natural Resources Department, suggest that county government get involved and “help habitat efforts either through funding or with land-use regulations and policy.”

Others like county manager Jeff Shroll pointed out that key migration corridors in the study area like the Roaring Fork Valley are “blocked on two sides” by Interstate 70 and Colorado Highway 82.

To view the current draft plan, click here.