There are 150 elk here right now, there were 300-350 in 2001, 150 isn't the max. We had 300 to 350, and the wolves have knocked the elk herd down to 150, thats simple math. Your right I'm stuck on the wolves and I'm not hard converse with, your simplily telling i'm wrong and i'm simplily telling you are wrong. I do understand The FWP objectives, but they wrong. I know for a fact that up here we worked really hard to get the herd that we had back around say 1995 to say 2000. The only way we suceeded in getting the elk numbers we had up here were by shutting down either sex elk during the general season, then came the wolves. Jim williams objctives then were having a herd of 3 or 4 hundred elk around the the lost trail refuge. The wolves have steadily decreased the numbers. We would have the herd of 3 or 4 hundred if the wolves weren't there, thats my point.
Houndy, I get what you are saying. When the law changed in 2003 and when the new objectives were adopted in 2004, things changed. The way you got numbers back up in your example, eliminate cow tags, would not be an option today under the new rules, if that unit is green or red.
If we kill every wolf in a unit that is at or over objective, FWP is mandated by law to get or keep numbers low. So, for all the saved mortality from wolf predation, FWP would be forced to go back to cow tags and other mechanism to keep harvest high, to stay within these new objectives.
So, under this current scenario, a green or red unit that has an objective of 150 under the EMP, as you state your unit has for elk right now, will not be allowed to grow to your number of 350 from the late 1990's, as it would be in violation of state law. FWP is required to implement all reasonable means to keep it at 150, if that is the objective under the EMP, even if it has capacity of 350+.
I hate to seem bullheaded about this. Just trying to find examples to show that under the new rules since 2003/2004, wolves surely have an affect, but if wolf predation was completely removed, FWP is legislatively mandated to keep the numbers from growing in green units, and in red units, lower them even further.
If you were comfortable stating what units those are, we could look up the objective, see the current population, and decide if it would be allowed to grow under the current EMP, if all the wolves are shot. Or, if it is like most units, where it is not allowed to grow from where we are today, or worse yet, is to be reduced from its level today.
