Colorado giving hay to wild elk in deep snow

Elk in northwestern Colorado cut off from food supplies by deep snow will be provided hay to prevent the wild herds from raiding livestock feeding operations, state wildlife managers said on Wednesday. Heavy snows in the Yampa River valley, about 250 miles northwest of Denver, have the Colorado Division of Wildlife concerned the elk will move into areas where ranchers leave feed for cattle and sheep in the winter. Randy Hampton, spokesman for the agency, said workers will place hay at two sites upriver from cattle grazing lands to lure elk away from haystacks and livestock feed lines. Hampton said the goal is to stave off problems that occurred in the valley during the winter of 2007-08 when hungry elk ravaged cattle and sheep ranches, injured livestock, and trampled newborn calves...more