Landowners say wolves driving elk herd onto properties

Farmers and ranchers packed a meeting house on Burnt Fork Road on Thursday night to voice their frustration over a growing number of elk that are living in their pastures and hay fields. And many weren't happy either with the wolves they believe are driving the elk from their traditional winter ranges higher up on the surrounding mountainsides. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials called the meeting to offer advice on keeping elk out of haystacks and to talk about the potential for future joint projects to build wildlife-friendly fences. Landowners living on the edge of the Sapphire Mountains northeast of Stevensville have been dealing with a herd of nearly 170 elk this winter that ventured down into areas where they had not been seen before. George Bettas said he and his neighbor first saw seven or eight elk show up on their place at the end of Burnt Fork in 2009. This spring, there were close to 40 and by September there were 100 staying an irrigated circle. The elk are staying most of the year now, including calving season. Up higher on the mountainside, Bettas said it's not unusual to find wolf tracks. "They are having their calves here now where they're not bothered by predators," Bettas said. Keith Marchuk sounded angry when he spoke up. "You won't even admit wolves are the problem," he told FWP officials. "You could drive those elk back up into the hills with five helicopters, but they wouldn't stay there. They'd double back and come right back down here. "Wolves are why the elk aren't going back up there," he said. "Your problem isn't elk. It's the damned wolves."...more