Yellowstone's Northern Range - Greater Yellowstone Science ...

THE NORTHERN RANGE
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to point out that "the debate about natural regulation
and ecosystem stability cUlTently cannot be
resolved by science. In many parks, the decision
about whether or not to intrude must be made
before we have sufficient scientific understanding
of ungulate-vegetation interactions." As strong as
this statement is, it probably understates the
complexity of the scientific situation. Barbee
(1995) took the consideration of scientific uncertainty
to another level, well beyond simple lack of
knowledge, into scientific contention:
We must have good science [in the
National Parks]. That said, I can't
overemphasize the complications of
dealing with the scientific community.
First, on an issue of any substance at all,
the scientists will almost certainly
disagree. Sometimes they will gather
conflicting data, sometimes they'll just
disagree over what the data means, but
as an issue matures, you can be sure that
they will agree less and less. The more
complex the subject, the less agreement
you get.
The scientific and public debates over the
northern range are, regrettably, as bitter as modern
political races. Indeed, Porter (1992) has proven
COHeet in his asseltion that, because science cannot
settle the debate over the northern range, it "will
have to be addressed in the political arena." After
all, policy is a political product to achieve social
goals. It is our hope, however, that at every stage
the best possible science will be employed to
inform the decisions that are made.
The preponderance of evidence suggests that
the northern Yellowstone elk herd is naturally
regulated. The changes in northern range vegetation
that have caused observers to raise alarms for
decades are either not the result of elk "overpopulation"
or are part of long-term processes we do
not fully understand. For these reasons, there is no
compelling reason to intervene at this point with
some drastic return to the unsuccessful policies of
elk reduction. There are still many unanswered
questions about the northelTI range, and the natural
regulation policy seems no less great a learning
opportunity now than it did when it was instituted
in 1968.
RESEARCH
RECOMMENDATIONS:
ELK POPULATION ISSUES
It is essential that annual monitoring of this
herd continues, as now conducted by the efforts of
the Northern Yellowstone Cooperative Wildlife
Working Group-Yellowstone National Park, the
Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks,
the Gardiner District of the Gallatin National
Forest, and the Biological Resources Division of
the U.S. Geological Survey. They record total elk
count, age/sex composition, and other basic
population infOlmation. This information is
important for its own sake in understanding elk
population dynamics, but it is also very important
because the addition of wolves to the ecological
equation, as mentioned previously, is likely the
most important event since the curtailment of inpark
elk culling in the 1960s. A research and
monitoring program on the effects of wolves on
elk, especially in concert with the other elk
predators including human hunting north of the
park, is clearly warranted in future years.
Other research recommendations associated
with the effects of elk on grasslands, shrubs,
riparian, and other woody species are dealt with in
those specific sections.