Hay Donation Will Help Feed Elk in Jackson Refuge

It was "Hay Day" in Jackson as 10 tons of hay, donated by the Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife (SFW), was transported to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department's South Park Wildlife Habitat Management Area on December 10th. The hay will be utilized in the department's supplemental feeding program at the South Park elk feedground where approximately 1,000 elk are fed annually.

This is the sixth consecutive year a hay donation has been made by SFW to defray the costs of feeding elk in Jackson. The annual SFW "Hay Day" is just one way the department is able lessen the financial burden of the supplemental feeding program, as they implemented a summer haying project that saved approximately $21,000 in hay costs. 

The department recognized SFW in a release on Wednesday, saying contributions to the generous donation were made by several chapters including, the Bighorn Basin, Converse, Northeast Wyoming, Natrona, Uinta, and Star Valley as well as the Wyoming Outfitters and Guides Association.

In the past, the Teton SFW Chapter also contributed $10,000 to help purchase GPS telemetry collars for an ongoing elk research project designed to learn more about migration patterns in the Jackson elk herd.

The information we are gaining through this study is critical to our management. We're finding those elk that summer in Yellowstone and the Teton Wilderness do not have the recruitment we're seeing in other segments of the herd, so we're adjusting the hunting pressure accordingly.
-Jackson Region Wildlife Supervisor Tim Fuchs