The roar of a snowmobile makes most elk run for the hills. But to the elk herd that lingers around the Warm Springs Ranch Golf Course, that same sound is like a dinner bell.
Out of the forest's shade Thursday morning, a pair, then a dozen, then almost 60 elk ran down from the hills and onto the golf course for their daily manmade meal.
The Idaho Department of Fish and Game has set up a temporary feeding station on Sun Valley Ventures' property abutting northwest Ketchum in preparation for a "trap and transplant" operation they'll carry out this month.
"We want to move them as early as possible while they're in a better body condition," said Roger Olson, Fish and Game conservation officer. "They're a lot stronger in early winter than late winter."
Fish and Game officials say the relocation is a last resort, but necessary because of the animals' dependence on feeding operations, carried out for decades on Warm Springs Ranch by previous owners. At the same time, some homeowners in the area have complained that the elk are eating expensive landscaping and walking in city streets.
A small number of elk can survive in the area, but feeding operations lessen their ability to find ways to survive in the face of encroaching development and diminished winter ranges, said Randy Smith, Fish and Game wildlife manager for the Magic Valley region.
"We've recognized the problem of diminishing habitat in the Warm Springs area since the 1960s," he said. "The vast majority are wintering just fine outside of private feed sites. These (Warm Springs) elk have never really had a chance to develop their own winter range."
Bulls, cows and calves munched Thursday on crunchy alfalfa pellets and bushy, weed-free hay Olson set out for them.
They kept their distance from the officer, but showed little fear while he was in their midst.
"We want to make sure these elk stay in the best condition possible," Olson said as he loaded trays with feed. "It's always stressful for them when they're moved."
Keeping them well nourished is one line of defense against their upcoming trapping and transfer.
On Jan. 7, Fish and Game officers will bring in a corral, paid for by Sun Valley Ventures, to acclimate the ungulates to it before they are trapped later this month.
A temporary bridge will be brought in to accommodate the heavy trucks needed to transport the elk.
Calves and bulls will be taken higher up the Warm Springs drainage, where Fish and Game operates a more remote feeding site, Olson said. The animals will hopefully integrate into that herd.
"Elk are pretty social creatures," he said. "With a good food supply, they'll have as good a chance as anywhere."
Cows, which have a stronger inclination to return to places they've been fed in the past, will be moved to a more remote location, Smith said.
"We're going to keep them within the Magic Valley region," he said, adding the exact spot is yet to be determined.
While Fish and Game plans the relocation, some people in the Wood River Valley maintain their opposition to it.
Numerous private feeding operations are in place throughout the valley, with feeding advocates saying elk need human assistance.
"I strongly feel we need to support the elk by feeding them in the winter," said Warm Springs resident Sunni Gadsby. "There is not enough range anywhere in the valley to support a herd."
Gadsby said she had the unfortunate experience of seeing an elk starve in her yard.
"Either we had to feed them or they were going to die right there in front of us," she said. "I'd rather have a feed lot than a cemetery."
Gadsby said development and grazing, especially by domestic sheep, have decimated elk winter range.
"(Elk) don't want to sit around with us. They come (for food) when they need us," she said. "When they didn't need us, they didn't stay."
She doesn't believe the Fish and Game feeding operation will work as planned because older elk will push out younger ones for the food.
"The calves will die of starvation," she said. "We should make certain we do everything we can to maintain them. We're losing something really, really wonderful."
Despite the disagreement over how best to manage the elk, Smith found a positive aspect to the debate.
"The wildlife conservation ethic (in the Wood River Valley) is just incredible," he added. "That's the common ground we have with people (in opposition to the plan). They really do care about their resources."
A bull elk takes a break from feeding at Warm Springs Ranch, near Ketchum. The herd of elk that has been feeding at the site for years will soon be relocated by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. Photo by Willy Cook
