Montana's new elk management plan has been adopted
Montana Public Radio | By Ellis Juhlin
Montana’s new plan to manage elk has been adopted after years of development.
It’s been 18 years since Montana developed a new plan to manage elk. In that time, elk numbers and distribution have dramatically increased, mostly on private land. The state is preparing to manage at least 20,000 more elk than it did in 2005.
New in the 2023 plan is consideration of both available habitat and landowner tolerance.
It attempts to strike a balance between resident and nonresident hunting interests and landowner concerns.
The new plan can be used to set hunting quotas which the Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission will decide on in their December 14 meeting.
The Darby/Sula Ranger District on the Bitterroot National Forest has a new leader
Montana Public Radio | By Edward F. O'Brien
The Darby/Sula Ranger District on western Montana’s Bitterroot National Forest has a new leader.
Steve Brown will replace Abbie Jossie, who retires later this month.
Brown has helmed the Stevensville Ranger District since 2019 and is a two-decade Forest Service employee.
His new territory is nearly double the size of the Stevensville district.
Prior to his work there, he conducted vegetation surveys across Montana and Idaho. He also coordinated regional responses to the historic 2017 fire season.
In addition to getting to better know the Darby/Sula communities, Brown will stay involved with projects he started in Stevensville, including the extensive Eastside Forest and Bitterroot Front fuels reduction projects.
