Managing Human-Wildlife Interactions: Ecological and Financial Assessment of Elk Feedground Closure in Teton County
Data files
May 22, 2024 version files 69.28 MB
Abstract
Teton County in Western Wyoming is home to large working landscapes, a national park, and the nation’s largest elk herd, the Jackson herd. It is also one of the few places in the Western United States that still operates elk feedgrounds, where the artificial feeding of these large mammals has resulted in high density populations over small areas, leading to increased disease transmission and prevalence. A disease of primary concern is brucellosis (Brucella abortus) which can be transmitted from elk to cattle and result in financial burdens for ranchers through quarantine, depopulation, reduced milk production, or calf abortions. This project aimed to better understand the complex social and ecological dynamics of elk feedgrounds in order to assess the feasibility of implementing financial tools that would mitigate the effects of disease transmission and wildlife presence risks of a simulated feedground closure. Our goal is to help improve human-wildlife coexistence on Wyoming’s private and public lands. To accomplish this, we completed a Public Comment Sentiment Analysis, a Jackson Herd Habitat Connectivity Model, a Brucellosis Transmission Risk Model, and an Analysis of Financial Repercussions of Feedground Closure. These methods resulted in the assessment of two financial tools, a brucellosis compensation fund and an elk rent program, which we recommend to be implemented in Teton County. This project will serve to better inform the Property and Environment Research Center on potential methods for improving human-wildlife interactions and coexistence in Teton County through the understanding of where elk move on private lands, transmission of disease from elk to cattle, and the impacts that the cessation of feeding could cause on subsequent stakeholders, specifically the financial implications for ranchers.
README
This README.md
file was generated on 2024-05-07 by Justine Lang
GENERAL INFORMATION
- Title of the Project: Managing Human-Wildlife Interactions: Ecological and Financial Assessment of Elk Feedground Closure in Teton County
- Author Information
A. Primary Contact Information
Name: Justine Lang; Role: Data Manager; Institution: Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, University of California, Santa Barbara; Email: justinelang@bren.ucsb.edu
B. Alternate Contact Information
Name: Katherine Aristi; Role: Project Manager; Institution: Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, University of California, Santa Barbara; Email: katherinearisti@bren.ucsb.edu
Name: Delores Chan; Role: Communications Manager; Institution: Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, University of California, Santa Barbara; Email: deloreschan@bren.ucsb.edu
Name: Samuel Desre; Role: Financial Manager; Institution: Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, University of California, Santa Barbara; Email: samueldesre@bren.ucsb.edu
- Date of data collection: 2023-04-03 - 2024-03-22
- Geographic location of data collection: Teton County, WY and the broader Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, USA
- Information about funding sources that supported the collection of the data: No funding was acquired.
SHARING/ACCESS INFORMATION
- Licenses/restrictions placed on the data: No restrictions are placed on the data generated by the project. For original data sources and raw data where restrictions do exist, citations, links, and contact information are provided to allow for access and replication. All final products and data produced by this project are archived in the public domain under the license CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication.
- Links to publications that cite or use the data: Aristi, K., Chan, D, Lang, J., & Desre, S. (2024). Managing Human-Wildlife Interactions: Ecological and Financial Assessment of Elk Feedground Closure in Teton County [Master’s Thesis Equivalent, Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, University of California, Santa Barbara]. https://bren.ucsb.edu/projects/managing-human-wildlife-interactions-ecological-and-financial-assessment-elk-feedground
- Links to other publicly accessible locations of the data: Related data and code used in this project are located in the project GitHub repository: https://github.com/justinelang/elkentourage_gp
- Was data derived from another source? If yes, list source(s):
Resistance rasters and core habitat areas were derived from numerous sources, listed below. While not every file could be archived with this project, links are included to facilitate access.
Data name: National Elk Refuge
File name: FWSInterestSimplified.shp
Published: 2018
Source: US National Park Service
Link: https://koordinates.com/layer/13554-us-national-elk-refuge/
Data name: Roads
File name: tl_2023_56001.shp to tl_2023_56045.shp
Published: 2023
Source: United States Census Bureau
Link: https://www2.census.gov/geo/tiger/TIGER2023/
Data name: Conservation Easements
File name: NCED_Polygons_07282023/.shp
Published: 2023
Source: National Conservation Easement Database
Link: https://www.conservationeasement.us/login/
Data name: Protected Areas
File name: PADUS2_1WDPASchemaMetadataV1_1.shp
Published: 2021
Source: U.S. Geological Survey
Link: https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/602ffe50d34eb1203115c7ab
Data name: Oil and Gas
File name: WGSG_OilGas_Fields2023_AllAttributes.shp
Published: 2023
Source: Wyoming State Geological Survey
Link: https://portal.wsgs.wyo.gov/arcgis/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=d42f571b87fa4234b03d66ca7ae311a4
Data name: Grazing Allotments
File name: BLM_Natl_Grazing_Allotment_Polygons.shp
Published: 2024
Source: Bureau of Land Management
Link: https://gbp-blm-egis.hub.arcgis.com/datasets/0882acf7eada4b3bafee4dd673fbe8a0/explore
Data name: Elevation
File name: usgs_merged_30m.tif
Published: 2011
Source: U.S. Geological Survey
Link: https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/4f4e4a92e4b07f02db6572c2
Data name: Land Use
File name: nlcd_wy_utm13.tif
Published: 2021
Source: National Land Cover Database
Link: https://www.mrlc.gov/data?f%5B0%5D=category%3ALand%20Cover&f%5B1%5D=year%3A2021
Data name: Jackson Zoning
File name: toj_zoning.shp
Published: 2020
Source: Teton County GIS Hub
Link: https://gis.tetoncountywy.gov/portal/apps/sites/#/teton-county-gis-hub
Data name: Elk Crucial Ranges
File name: ElkCrucialRange.shp
Published: 2018
Source: Wyoming Game and Fish Department
Link: https://wyoming-wgfd.opendata.arcgis.com/datasets/ade74a3eb73448dcbd811e398d3669f3_0/explore
Data name: Jackson Herd Migrations
File name: Elk_WY_Jackson_Routes_Ver1_2019.shp
Published: 2019
Source: U.S. Geological Survey
Link: https://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/data/USGS:5f8db61982ce32418791d56d
Data name: Feedground Locations
File name: FWSInterest_Simplified.shp
Published: 2011
Source: Wyoming Game and Fish Department
Link: https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/4f4e4ae0e4b07f02db68816a
Data name: Wyoming Counties
File name: GU_CountyOrEquivalent.shp
Published: 2024
Source: U.S. Geological Survey
Link: https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/59fa9f67e4b0531197affb79
Data name: Wyoming Land Ownership Parcels
File name: Wyoming_Parcels.shp
Published: 2022
Source: Wyoming
Link: N/A
- Recommended citation for the project: Lang, J., Aristi, K., Chan, D., & Desre, S. (2024). Managing Human-Wildlife Interactions: Ecological and Financial Assessment of Elk Feedground Closure in Teton County [Dataset]. Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.98sf7m0rx
DATA & FILE OVERVIEW
- File List:
A. Habitat Connectivity:
Data name: Low Resistance Raster
File name: lowresblend.tif
Description: elk habitat connectivity resistance raster with low resistance values
Data name: Medium Resistance Raster
File name: medresblend.tif
Description: elk habitat connectivity resistance raster with medium resistance values
Data name: High Resistance Raster
File name: highresblend.tif
Description: elk habitat connectivity resistance raster with high resistance values
Data name: Low Resistance Least-Cost Paths/Pinchpoints
File name: lowres_lcp_pp.zip
Description: least-cost paths and pinchpoint shapefiles generated from running the low resistance raster in Circuitscape
Data name: Medium Resistance Least-Cost Paths/Pinchpoints
File name: medres_lcp_pp.zip
Description: least-cost paths and pinchpoint shapefiles generated from running the medium resistance raster in Circuitscape
Data name: High Resistance Least-Cost Paths/Pinchpoints
File name: highresblend_lcp_pp.zip
Description: least-cost paths and pinchpoint shapefiles generated from running the high resistance raster in Circuitscape
B. Forage Competition:
Data name: Subpar Habitat
File name: fc_subpar_habitat.zip
Description: shapefile of Jackson elk herd habitat of subpar quality
Data name: Average Habitat
File name: fc_avg_habitat.zip
Description: shapefile of Jackson elk herd habitat of average quality
Data name: Prime Habitat
File name: fc_prime_habitat.zip
Description: shapefile of Jackson elk herd habitat of prime quality
Data name: Public Land
File name: public_data.zip
Description: shapefile of public land in Teton County near the National Elk Refuge
Data name: Private Land
File name: private_data.zip
Description: shapefile of private land in Teton County near the National Elk Refuge
- Relationship between files, if important:
- Least-cost paths and pinchpoints were created from the resistance rasters.
- The elk habitat quality shapefiles were overlaid on the public and private land shapefiles to calculate forage competition between elk and cattle.
- Additional related data collected that was not included in the current data package: For additional data, metadata, and code, see the project GitHub repository: https://github.com/justinelang/elkentourage_gp
METHODOLOGICAL INFORMATION
- Description of methods used for collection/generation of data: All data were gathered from an extensive literature and web search. See the sources listed above.
- Methods for processing the data:
A. Habitat Connectivity
Methods for producing the low, medium, and high resistance rasters, least-cost paths, and pinchpoints are described in detail in Appendix 2 of the associated report. For step-by-step instructions for creating the rasters in ArcGIS Pro and running the habitat connectivity model in Circuitscape, see https://bren.ucsb.edu/projects/managing-human-wildlife-interactions-ecological-and-financial-assessment-elk-feedground
B. Forage Competition
By using the high resistance raster created in the habitat connectivity model, we zoomed into the area surrounding Jackson Hole and outside of the National Elk Refuge. By using the ‘Select Features’ tool, this raster was clipped to the area that we wanted to calculate forage competition. We then loaded the public and private lands data into the map and used the ‘Clip Layer’ tool to make it the same size as the high resistance raster. Each layer in the high resistance raster was then categorized into the three habitat types identified for the forage competition calculations: subpar, average, and prime. This was done by right clicking on the layer and choosing ‘Symbology’ and then changing the number of classification groups to three. The area of each habitat type was then calculated by going into the layers attribute table and choosing the calculator which would find the area of each in km2.
The private and public land layer was then separated into land that was public or private by using the ‘Select Features’ tool. Once these were into their own layer types, the total areas of each one were calculated in the same way as was done for habitat types.
With the areas of each habitat and land use type, we were able to use the forage competition calculations to determine how much of each habitat type was overlaid with private or public land and determine the costs of forage competition.
- Instrument- or software-specific information needed to interpret the data:
- ESRI. (2021). ArcGIS Pro (Version 2.9.5) [Software]. Redlands, CA: Environmental Systems Research Institute
- McRae B, Shah V. 2009. Circuitscape User Guide. University of California, Santa Barbara. Available from: https://www.circuitscape.org
- McRae BH, Kavanagh DM. 2011. Linkage Mapper Connectivity Analysis Software. The Nature Conservancy, Seattle, WA. Available from https://linkagemapper.org.
- McRae BH. 2012a. Pinchpoint Mapper Connectivity Analysis Software. The Nature Conservancy, Seattle, WA. Available from https://linkagemapper.org
- People involved with sample collection, processing, analysis and/or submission: Katherine Aristi, Delores Chan, Justine Lang, and Samuel Desre
Methods
From the larger project, this dataset primarily contains the data and metadata associated with the habitat connectivity model and the forage competition calculations. For additional data, metadata, and code associated with the other parts of the project, see the linked GitHub repository under "Related Works." More detailed methods can be found in the main report, also linked here.
The main objective of creating a habitat connectivity model for the Jackson herd was to understand where the elk might disperse across the landscape if feeding on the National Elk Refuge (NER) ceases. This informed multiple aspects of our project, such as areas of potential overlap of elk and cattle for the brucellosis risk transmission model and locations of forage competition for the financial analysis. Analyzing where elk may relocate highlights places of management priority, particularly areas where conservation can be improved and stakeholder costs and human-wildlife conflict can be mitigated. To build habitat connectivity models for the Jackson herd, we created resistance rasters, which are a combination of multiple data layers that are important to elk biology with assigned values of resistance, or the cost of traversing each pixel of the landscape. The resistance rasters consisted of roads (including primary, secondary, trails, service drives, and private roads), conservation easements (ranked based on protection level), protected areas (also ranked based on protection level), oil and gas fields and wells, grazing allotments, elevation, and land use (vegetation and waterways as well as human development). The habitat connectivity resistance rasters were composed of layers built from 2011-2024. These raster layers were selected based on expert consultation of what most influences elk movement and biology as well as previous studies that have modeled movement for similar species like mule deer or for elk in different parts of the country. Similarly, resistance values were selected based on how the herd will utilize the land in winter conditions and were further informed by previous literature, expert opinion, or a combination of the two.
After resistance rasters were created, they were used to analyze how elk movement would change due to the simulated cease of feeding on the NER during winter conditions. By using the Circuitscape Linkage Mapper tool in the Linkage Pathways toolbox within ArcGIS Pro, we analyzed the least-cost paths that elk will take to move from multiple elk crucial ranges to new habitats. In addition, the Pinchpoint Mapper tool identified areas of increased resistance that elk may face due to changes in the landscape.
Results from the habitat connectivity model were used to calculate forage competition costs (the costs of hay consumed by elk from haystacks found on private land during the winter months) for ranches in Teton County under a simulated feedground closure scenario. Pinchpoints from the high resistance simulation were used to identify three different types of elk winter habitat: prime, average, and subpar. Identifying those habitat types allowed us to predict where the elk are most likely to migrate and how much of their winter range includes private land.