Top: Elk can be remarkably expressive animals. This cow is chewing on a mouthfull of grass, but her face seems to express the desire to make some sort of snide comment on my presence.

From the Northern Range Newsletter: "The shift toward natural regulation of wildlife to the extent feasible is part of a long evolution in the public's view of the purpose of a national park and the role of wildlife. When Yellowstone was established 125 years ago, the primary goal was to protect certain specific natural wonders and hunting was permitted. The park was not staffed or equipped during its early years to prevent the widespread slaughter of wildlife that swept the West in the 1870s and early 1880s, and many of Yellowstone's wildlife populations were nearly decimated. Recognizing that the park could serve as a reservoir to restock the surrounding area with game, sportsmen and other conservationists gave widespread support to the hunting ban that went into effect in 1883.

From then until the 1930s, wildlife management was largely a matter of protecting the "good" animals (elk, deer, and other game animals) and eliminating the "bad" ones (wolves, coyotes and other predators). But as the protected animals became less wary of people and easier to see, the park's wildlife became valued not only as a source of game for hunters outside the park but as an important visitor attraction in the park, and both predators and their prey came to be regarded as worthy of preservation.

We now recognize that plant and animal communities may change significantly from one year (and century) to the next in response to changing environmental conditions. But for a long time, biologists thought natural processes tended toward a stable state that could be predicted, with the goal of maintaining some ideal "balance of nature" between predators and prey, grazers and their forage. Consequently, management of Yellowstone's Northern Range was expected to keep animal numbers steady and minimize winter mortality, a goal that required deliberate reductions in the elk population.

By the 1960s, an increasing number of ecologists were challenging the belief that the Northern Range was overgrazed. They proposed to let the elk herds seek their own population level so that their numbers would be "naturally" regulated by their environment. This view, which has been borne out by actual experience on the Northern Range since elk reductions ended, has become part of the answer to the larger question, "What is wildlife for?" Instead of focusing solely on the protection of individual plant and animal species, the goal of wildlife management has become to preserve the whole set of complex natural processes that shape an ecosystem. Inherent in this approach is an acceptance of the fact that some years will bring heavy winter mortality for some animals, followed by periods of population growth.

Just as ranchers and farmers see yearly variations in growing conditions and the success of their crops, so must Yellowstone's wildlife respond to changes in its environment, which may include fire, floods, and drought. But where animal mortality on a ranch may be considered a"waste," among wild animals it is crucial to the survival of many other plant and animal species."

Below: Pssssssst!!!