Estimating the social and economic consequences of proposed management alternatives at the National Elk Refuge

The National Elk Refuge (Refuge) is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and includes habitats for bison and elk. Bison and elk provide opportunities for wildlife-related recreation and contribute to the tourism industry in and around Jackson, Wyoming. Over the last century, the Refuge has provisioned supplemental feed to elk and, more recently, bison during winter months to ensure adequate forage and prevent starvation and conflict with private landowners. However, supplemental feeding artificially aggregates animals and can increase rates of disease transmission and localized damage to sensitive habitats near the feeding areas. This report presents analyses and results to support two of the nine management objectives in the next “Bison and Elk Management Plan,” with a particular focus on the social and economic consequences of five management alternatives considered in this study. The alternatives are to continue feeding bison and elk during winter months on the Refuge, stop feeding after CWD is measured at 3 percent prevalence or above in the Jackson elk herd, stop feeding immediately, reduce feeding for five years and then stop feeding, and increase elk harvest for five years and then stop feeding. These alternatives are anticipated to alter bison and elk population and space-use dynamics, with corresponding effects on wildlife-related recreation and tourism, including the number of visitors and sleigh-ride participants on the Refuge, and hunters and outfitters within the Jackson Elk Herd Unit. The performance of each of this study’s alternatives was variable, resulting in overlap in the performance of alternatives on the select objectives over the next 20 years. Generally, visitation-related objectives performed better under the continue feeding alternative, whereas hunting-related objectives performed better under the increase harvest alternative. The results presented here may assist U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decision makers in balancing social and economic benefits identified in the decision-making process for the “Bison and Elk Management Plan” with other objectives evaluated in this report.