Imperfect Pasture: A Century of Change at
the National Elk Refuge in Jackson Hole,
Wyoming
Bruce Smith, Eric Cole and David
Dobkin
156 pages, softcover: $14.95
U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service and Grand Teton Natural History Association,
2004.
The National Elk Refuge near Jackson, Wyo., is
either a conservation success, or, as the scientist-authors of
Imperfect Pasture call it, the climax of “a
history of excess.” Thousands of elk and hundreds of bison spend
winters on the 25,000-acre refuge. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service supports the herds with hay pellets, which keeps the herds
out of ranchers’ fields. But the crowding hammers native
willows, aspen and beaver.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Imperfect Pasture: A Century of Change at the National Elk Refuge in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
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