Winter’s last blasts

An elk herd lingering on the National Elk Refuge endures what’s likely one of the final squalls of the 2023-’24 winter.

by Mike Koshmrl May 3, 2024

A herd of cow and calf elk scurry through the snow in May 2024 on the National Elk Refuge. (Mike Koshmrl/WyoFile)

Every year, thousands of wapiti wait out winter on the National Elk Refuge, a nearly 40-square-mile federal wildlife refuge that was formed 112 years ago in the heart of Jackson Hole.

Spring is typically a time of migration, when herds shoot out in every direction: toward subdivisions along the Snake River, into Grand Teton National Park, up the Gros Ventre River corridor and even to Yellowstone National Park. But the low floor of the Elk Refuge is also among the first areas in the valley to green up, and sometimes herds linger and need to be hazed away to allow the grasslands to replenish themselves — and sustain the same elk in the winter to come.

Pictured, a lingering herd faces a last blast of winter on the flats west of Curtis Canyon on the first day of May.

Five bachelor bucks

Curious kits

Mike Koshmrl

Mike Koshmrl reports on Wyoming's wildlife and natural resources. Prior to joining WyoFile, he spent nearly a decade covering the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem’s wild places and creatures for the Jackson... More by Mike Koshmrl

WyoFile's goal is to provide readers with information and ideas that foster constructive conversations about the issues and opportunities our communities face. One small piece of how we do that is by offering a space below each story for readers to share perspectives, experiences and insights. For this to work, we need your help.

What we're looking for:

Your real name — first and last.
Direct responses to the article. Tell us how your experience relates to the story.
The truth. Share factual information that adds context to the reporting.
Thoughtful answers to questions raised by the reporting or other commenters.
Tips that could advance our reporting on the topic.
No more than three comments per story, including replies.

What we block from our comments section, when we see it:

Pseudonyms. WyoFile stands behind everything we publish, and we expect commenters to do the same by using their real name.
Comments that are not directly relevant to the article.
Demonstrably false claims, what-about-isms, references to debunked lines of rhetoric, professional political talking points or links to sites trafficking in misinformation.
Personal attacks, profanity, discriminatory language or threats.
Arguments with other commenters.

Other important things to know:

Appearing in WyoFile’s comments section is a privilege, not a right or entitlement.
We’re a small team and our first priority is reporting. Depending on what’s going on, comments may be moderated 24 to 48 hours from when they’re submitted — or even later. If you comment in the evening or on the weekend, please be patient. We’ll get to it when we’re back in the office.
We’re not interested in managing squeaky wheels, and even if we wanted to, we don't have time to address every single commenter’s grievance.
Try as we might, we will make mistakes. We’ll fail to catch aliases, mistakenly allow folks to exceed the comment limit and occasionally miss false statements. If that’s going to upset you, it’s probably best to just stick with our journalism and avoid the comments section.
We don’t mediate disputes between commenters. If you have concerns about another commenter, please don’t bring them to us.

The bottom line:

If you repeatedly push the boundaries, make unreasonable demands, get caught lying or generally cause trouble, we will stop approving your comments — maybe forever. Such moderation decisions are not negotiable or subject to explanation. If civil and constructive conversation is not your goal, then our comments section is not for you.