FWP drops plan to open game preserve ... for now

By SCOTT McMILLION Chronicle Staff Writer

A 45,000-acre piece of prime elk habitat will remain off limits to hunting for at least another year, the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks has announced.

The land in question is known as the Gallatin Closed Area and it lies just outside the northwest corner of Yellowstone National Park, in the upper Gallatin River drainage.

It has been managed as a game preserve since 1909, a time when elk were very rare creatures, and hasn't been hunted since then.

Elk have now become abundant around the state, in what is often described as an incredibly successful conservation program, and FWP had proposed opening the closed area by next fall to a few hunters.

The plan called for drawing the names of five hunters, who would be allowed to hunt with a bow or a rifle for 11 weeks.

The pristine area contains many trophy bull elk and the idea of opening it was generally popular with hunters.

However, there also was significant opposition, from people who live nearby and from others.

Duncan Patten, a respected ecologist who owns a ranch in the middle of the area, opposed the FWP proposal. He predicted conflicts between hunters and the abundant grizzly bears in the area and said the area's pristine nature is a good reason to leave it alone.

Bighorn sheep, moose and deer use the area, as well as elk and grizzlies, he said Monday, calling the closed zone "a source or reproducing animals that know they're not harassed."

Last week, the FWP commission decided to table the proposal to open the area and approach it in a different way.

FWP is rewriting its statewide elk management plan, and the proposal will now be included in that process.

One advocate of opening the closed area said Monday he's satisfied with that approach.

"They probably did something that was very wise in tabling it," said Vito Quatraro, of the Headwaters Fish and Game Association.

This way, FWP will have time to sit down with both sides and make sure everybody understands exactly what it proposed, Quatraro said.

"We like the idea of things being done right, one time," he said.

Patten called the delay "half a victory" and said he hopes FWP will involve the Forest Service and the National Park Service in the final decision.

"At least this way there will be a conversation, instead of responding to a challenge," he said.

Most of the land is in the Lee Metcalf Wilderness Area and it abuts Yellowstone for many miles.

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