by Jim Slinsky
It was a few years ago, but for a brief period I was a complimentary member of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF). I must admit their national magazine “Bugle” is the spiffiest outdoor magazine I have ever viewed.
It seemed every issue of “Bugle” had a success story of their efforts to purchase a failing western ranch before it fell into the hands of developers. At the time, I didn’t put much thought into they were “flipping” that land back to the state.
Somewhere along the line the RMEF must have come into some big money or some big money came to them. A brief glance at their current website reveals they are currently committed to restoring elk from the Pacific to the Atlantic. This is a lofty ambition considering the US now has a human population approaching 300 million. It is even loftier considering the native elk of the East, the eastern woodland elk, is extinct.
According to the RMEF, DNA testing proves that all elk are the same. DNA is not the total picture. Certainly after thousands of years each type of elk surely adapted to its specific geography. The Roosevelt elk of our western rain forests would be a fish out of water in PA. I am sorry, but a “Rocky Mountain elk” is a non-native species, period.
Recently, our PGC Commissioners have been hit hard with requests by RMEF operatives to reduce the elk tags for this upcoming season to 50. They are complaining that we have not achieved the 1996 PGC goal of 800-1200 elk. What the RMEF doesn’t realize is that we have reached the social carrying capacity of the area with the current population of 600 elk. These animals have proven to be a major nuisance to our North central residents. Only a handful of merchants have benefited.
Actually, the entire elk program is imploding because PA doesn’t have the infrastructure (roads and highways) to get an onslaught of weekend tourists in and out of our small North central communities. A few thousand extra cars paralyze a small northern community to the point that their emergency services are shut down. A downtown fire or heart attack victim would probably cause a very interesting lawsuit if the fire truck or ambulance were stuck in elk traffic.
Frankly, it appears to many that the RMEF has actually become a land broker for government. The elk are mere pawns. RMEF comes into a state with the promise to spend millions for land acquisition if the state agrees to a free roaming elk herd. PA bought into this program, hook, line and sinker. Interestingly, Virginia and New York rejected the same RMEF offer. (I wonder why?)
A fascinating twist is developing in elk country. The merchants of the elk region are starting to discuss stopping the hunting of elk, entirely. It seems they figured out a live bull elk for eco-tourism is worth more to them than a dead elk to a hunter. This writer believes the future closure of all elk hunting is a real possibility. Within the current political agenda, I can foresee going to 1200 elk, then 2000, then 5000 or more. As long as the RMEF is offering money for land, DCNR will ride roughshod over the PGC and demand more elk.
If all of this isn’t enough, we must deal with the direct slap in our face by the RMEF. They keep bragging about their purchase of the 6300 acre Kelly Estate. They “flipped” that land to DCNR, not the PGC. Sportsmen have paid for the elk program since the 1920’s. For 75 years hunters picked up the cost of elk management, but no hunting was permitted. It is an outrage that the RMEF would “flip” the first major land deal to DCNR. I guess we now know who is sleeping with whom.
Actually, hunters got shafted, twice. The deer are practically gone from the North central and we got 600 elk, instead. What was once a $150 million hunting industry for our North central communities is almost gone. I suppose you can say the transformation is complete. We are now truly a bear, turkey and elk state.
It is apparent the elk and the RMEF are bit-part players in a grand development plan for the Northcentral. The tourism scheme is a transparent excuse to obtain federal funds to develop the highways of the North central. These new highways will move millions to and from our North central counties.
If one wants to conclude all of this is occurring to view a few hundred elk, then I must conclude P.T. Barnum was a genius.
Jim Slinsky is the host and producer of the “Sportsman’s Connection”, a nationally syndicated, outdoor-talk radio program.
For a station near you or to contact Jim, visit his website at
www.outdoortalknetwork.com
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