Elk Fences In Rocky Mountain National Park Seem To Be Working

ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK, Colo. (CBS4) - In Rocky Mountain National Park the aspen and willows, places where lots if animals live, have taken a serious beating from all the elk.

Three years after fences went up in Rocky Mountain National Park to protect areas from the elk which feast on willow and aspen shoots, park biologists say the recovery project appears to be working -- more in some areas than others.

Re-growth provides new habitat for other critters.

"Red-naped sap suckers, a variety of woodpeckers will use these areas for nesting," wildlife biologist Therese Johnson said.

Johnson said the fenced-off areas are better for woodpeckers now.

Johnson has helped lead the elk management research and the installation of fencing around 190 acres of stressed willow and aspen in several areas of the east side of the park.

"There were lots of little suckers out here that were just waiting to grow. They were just waiting for the chance to not be browsed so they could grow into big trees," Johnson said.

It's tough with so many elk chewing on everything.

Park officials say there have been a few complaints that the fences are an eyesore, so they want visitors to go through the gates and see the new beauty behind the fences.

How long the fences stay up really depends on how long it takes the willow and the aspen to recover. The best guess is about 10 or 20 years. By that time the hope is that the areas will be healthy enough to withstand all of the grazing elk.

So far the elk fencing project has cost about $875,000.