Wyoming Media Grok

Magnificent Moose Musings

By Brodie Farquhar, 1-31-07

It is exciting to find really superlative, in-depth reporting, so you’ll want to check out Planet Jackson’s excellent report on what’s happening with Wyoming moose.

Ben Kinkade thoroughly explores the research findings of Dr. Joel Berger, including this key paragraph:

“From his nine-year study, Berger concluded adult female mortality was attributable to malnourishment (60 percent), bear predation (14 percent), hunting (10 percent), vehicle collision (8 percent), unknown (6 percent), and wolf predation (less than 2 percent). These results indicated that predators were not the sole reason for the moose decline.”

Cat Urbigkit, of the Sublette Examiner, thoroughly explores the rancher point of view towards predators and compensation programs, but fails to allow Defenders of Wildlife to defend themselves. Urbigkit, a livestock grower and talented journalist, brings an interesting perspective and insight into this story, noting that not all the costs born by predator-plagued ranchers are in depredated livestock, but in weight loss and loss of forage when cattle refuse to go to or stay in grazing allotments where they’ve been spooked by predators.

In other news around the state, higher hunting and fishing fees advance in the Wyoming Legislature; a consultant urges Jackson Hole to dramatically increase construction of lower-cost housing and Gillette-area citizens are weighing in—pro and con—regarding a proposal to more tightly regulate coal-bed methane waters.

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