The Congressional Research Service, a nonpartisan research group, sent a letter to North Dakota Senator Byron Dorgan stating that park officials do have the authority to use hunters to thin the elk herd in Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service said in a letter to Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., that federal law allows “authorized agents” of the National Park Service to thin animal herds. That means qualified private hunters with authorization from the agency could be used to help control the elk population in southwestern North Dakota national park.

There are too many elk roaming the park and officials there have not decided what is the method in which they want to go about reducing numbers. At first it was said they would use hired guns – sharpshooters – along with helicopters, costing taxpayers millions of dollars. Under pressure from some politicians, including the Governor, Sen. Dorgan and fish and game officials, park superintendent Valerie Naylor began rethinking the process.

Sen. Dorgan introduced legislation in Washington intended to clarify and/or make provisions for the park authority to use hunters to achieve the thinning of the herd. I emailed Sen. Dorgan’s office for a clarification of that bill and as yet have not received any response.

Naylor has said publicly that she would only allow volunteers to be the sharpshooters and that they would have to give the meat up to charity.

Park superintendent Valerie Naylor said she’s already asked park officials to clarify whether qualified volunteers fit the definition of a sharpshooter.

In any case, using volunteers as sharpshooters would require that they be closely controlled, accompanied by park staff, told sex and other characteristics of the animal to kill and the elk meat would be donated to charity, Naylor said.

She said those conditions are used for sharpshooters in other park management actions and qualified volunteers would have a much different experience than a typical hunt.

Even with this information from the Congressional Research Service, it still remains quite unclear as to whether Naylor would allow hunters to “hunt” the elk or whether she would insist on a use of volunteer hunters to slaughter corralled elk.

*Previous Posts*
Sharpshooting is Sharpshooting Not Hunting
Sen. Dorgan Introduces Bill To Allow Hunters To Thin Elk Herd
Sen. Dorgan Of North Dakota Will Introduce Legislation To Allow Elk Hunt In Park
N. Dakota Game And Fish Pull Out Of Meetings About Elk In Teddy Roosevelt Park
Teddy Roosevelt National Park Also Has Too Many Elk

Tom Remington

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