Influences of Adjacent Forest Management Activities on Migratory Elk of Mount Rainier National Park
Kurt J. Jenkins, Edward E. Starkey

INTRODUCTION

Mount Rainier National Park (MORA) was created by Act of Congress in 1899 to protect a portion of the natural and scenic resources of the Cascade Mountains. Among the most significant of these resources is the mountain itself, a 14,411-foot dormant volcano that contains the largest glacial system in the conterminous United States. The park is also renowned for its expansive subalpine meadows and forests that are enjoyed by thousands of park visitors each year and which provide habitat for a great diversity of native flora and fauna of the Cascade Mountains.

Observations that elk (Cervus elaphus) herds were increasing in MORA prompted concern that high densities of elk could threaten unique ecological values of the park. m at concern was first expressed in 1962 when an initial aerial survey of elk revealed that densities summering in the park far surpassed previous expectations. Subsequent monitoring, beginning in the early 1970's, revealed that elk populations were continuing to increase in the northeastern part of the park and that population growth, if unabated, could become a concern to park management (Bradley 1982, Cooper 1987).

Bradley and Driver (1981) suggested that population increases of elk in MORA were related to land-management activities outside the park. Prior to modern logging practices extensive forests adjoining the park may have been deficient in important elk forages (Bradley 1982). A notable exception, however, occurred along the floodplain corridors of major river systems, where a variety of seral and old-age forest communities provided abundant forage and undoubtedly supported a viable elk population. In the 1950's and 1960's the primary elk winter range north of Mount Rainier National Park was intensively logged. Widespread patch-cutting provided additional foraging areas adjoining the floodplain, which may have enabled elk populations to increase during the 1970's.

Logging activities are of particular interest to park managers currently because they may continue to influence elk populations and range trends within the park. On the one hand, secondary forest succession resulting from past logging activities may have diminished carrying capacities of winter ranges abutting the park (Raedeke and Lemkuhl 1984). On the other hand, current and future forest management practices which include renewed patch-cutting of Douglas-fir (Psuedotsuga menziesii), thinning of regenerating stands, and harvesting second-growth red alder (Alnus rubra) stands, could enhance carrying capacity of winter ranges and enable elk populations to maintain themselves or resume growing.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate long-term consequences to migratory elk that summer within MORA of forest management activities in the White River drainage. The White River, which drains the park's northeastern quadrant, was selected for study because elk populations there have grown in the last decade, and human activities continue to influence winter range and elk populations adjoining the park.

This study was designed to provide answers to park managers on important questions concerning the status of elk in the White River drainage. Specifically, we address the following questions:

1. What is the logging history and successional status of elk winter and spring ranges outside the park?

2. How do nutritional qualities of elk winter range compare to pristine conditions?

3. In what manner can we expect nutritional qualities of elk winter range (and therefore, possibly elk population trends) to change under current and future forest management activities?

Three major segments of this report correspond to each of the above questions. In the chapter entitled "The Elk Range" we describe current habitat conditions in managed forest of the White River. In the segment on "Elk-winter range relationships" we present results on forage production outside the park, and we discuss diets and nutrient availability of old-growth and cutover portions of the White River range. In the segment on "Elk-habitat modeling" we present results of habitat models developed for forecasting elk habitat trends in the White River area.