Top Ten countdown: Volunteers hunt elk at TRNP

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Each December, The Dickinson Press staff looks at stories that made headlines in 2010 and counts down the top 10. This year’s are:

After months of debate, volunteer hunters were allowed to kill elk in Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

They harvested 54 of the approximately 1,100 elk in Theodore Roosevelt National Park the first week of November to keep the elk population in proportion to the available grazing land.

Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D. encouraged the National Park Service to use volunteer hunters in determining its elk management plan.

The park received 5,300 applications in July from individuals who wanted to help with the reduction. An automated system randomly selected 240 of those.

The reduction will continue until Jan. 21, with 20 new volunteer hunters each week, said Bill Woodworth, park chief of resource management.

Park Superintendent Valerie Naylor said the elk meat was donated to the American Indian tribes, charities and the state Game and Fish Department.

Tags: theodore roosevelt national park, top ten, news, elk