Data from: Refuges alter elk distribution: A case study of public and private land management strategies
Data files
Aug 17, 2025 version files 9.91 KB
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Female_Hunter_Access_Model_Results.rds
1.77 KB
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Female_MR_Model_Results.rds
2.39 KB
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Male_Hunter_Access_Model_Results.rds
1.96 KB
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Male_MR_Model_Results.rds
2.37 KB
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README.md
1.42 KB
Abstract
Wildlife managers have traditionally relied on hunting to manage elk (Cervus canadensis) population abundance; however, problems with elk over-abundance and/or distributions have arisen across the western United States as private landowners restrict public hunting and refuges are created. In the Sapphire Mountains of western Montana, USA, we investigated the effects of an amenity refuge expansion on elk distribution during the hunting season and contrasted this with a common public land management strategy aimed at increasing elk security through road closures. We used GPS collar data collected from male and female elk for two years before and two years after the expansion of an amenity refuge that restricted hunter access to 31 km2 of habitat. We also evaluated elk responses to the closure of 41 km of motorcycle routes and 4 km of vehicle routes on United States Forest Service (USFS) lands, implemented concurrently with the refuge expansion.
Dataset DOI: 10.5061/dryad.kd51c5bkd
Description of the data and file structure
Model results corresponding to Tables 1 and 2 in the manuscript.
The files Female_Hunter_Access_Model_Results.rds and Male_Hunter_Access_Model_Results.rds were used to report standardized selection coefficients and 95% confidence intervals from models of male and female elk resource selection during the rifle season before and after an elk refuge expansion in the northern Sapphire Mountains, Montana, USA. Coefficient estimates for categorical variables are relative to the reference category of the 2014 ̶ 2015 pre-refuge expansion for the study period and restricted for hunter access.
The files Female_MR_Model_Results.rds and Male_MR_Model_Results.rds were used to report standardized selection coefficients and 95% confidence intervals from models of male and female elk resource selection during the rifle season before and after motorized route closures occurred on public lands in the northern Sapphire Mountains, Montana, USA. Coefficient estimates for categorical variables are relative to the reference category of 2014 ̶ 2015 pre-route closure for the study period and restricted for hunter access.
Code/software
Program R can be used to view the files.