There was a time not many years ago when elk were relatively rare in Utah. Thousands of elk now roam Utah mountains, and the elk herds are growing by leaps and bounds.
Sportsmen are happy. Wildlife enthusiasts are happy. Even conservationists are happy with the turn of events.But a lot of Utah ranchers think there are too many elk, and they kept up the pressure on Utah lawmakers Wednesday to reduce the number of elk in Utah. That cause has been warmly embraced by the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which again vented its frustration at Division of Wildlife Resources director Tim Provan.
Last month, Provan was soundly criticized by the committee for the division's management of Utah elk populations. On Wednesday, lawmakers again unleashed their frustration, accusing Provan of untruthfulness and ignoring agricultural concerns.
Members of the committee, many of them ranchers themselves, lambasted Provan on a variety of issues, including his failure to schedule elk depredation hearings in Utah County (Provan reminded them such a hearing was held in Springville last year), his failure to contact private landowners when elk were moved to southern Tooele County (Provan said he personally contacted the landowners prior to the move) and his continued support of elk management plans that some lawmakers deemed excessive (Provan said the plans are biologically sound).
Much of the criticism leveled at Provan was actually the result of the Utah Board of Big Game Control's recent approval of 19 elk management plans, which determine the optimum number of elk that should occupy a range without adversely affecting the livestock industry while still maintaining a viable elk population.
Utah's growing elk herds have become a major controversy in rural Utah, pitting farmers and ranchers against sportsmen and conservationists. Ranchers - many of whom see Provan as the embodiment of the elk overpopulation problem - have pledged to pack a public hearing Thursday and Friday in Richfield to debate the issue of elk depredation.
"I'm the one who's supposed to protect him (Provan)," Rep. Met Johnson, R-New Harmony, only half jokingly told the Deseret News. "I'm probably the only guy who can keep them (the ranchers) from tearing him apart."
The elk management plans were mandated by the Legislature two years ago and were intended to solve the depredation problems on private lands, protect the range from overgrazing and maintain a healthy herd. The law was the result of rancher complaints that hungry elk destroy their fences, eat forage meant for cattle and obliterate haystacks.
Lawmakers say many of the 19 elk plans call for too many elk. On the Diamond Fork Unit, for example, the DWR recommended 2,000 elk, but the board reduced that number to 1,500 after hearing reports of depredation and poor range conditions.
But even that is too many for Sen. Eldon Money, D-Spanish Fork, who runs cattle in the Diamond Fork area.
"In 1990, you had an agreement of 1,200 (elk) with the cattlemen's association and now you have 2,000 in that herd," he said. "The point is you agreed to 1,200 and you ought to go back to 1,200."
Money complained that elk are the reason why livestock permits in the area have been greatly reduced. When a citizen and fellow rancher in the area reminded Money that permits have been reduced only 3 percent and that 90 percent of the range is being used by cattle, Money exploded in anger.
"What are you talking about?" he shouted. "How in the devil can you say that?" Money then pulled the citizen into the hallway for a private discussion.
The committee did approve the creation of a 12-member task force to study wildlife depredation.