Episode 06 | Elk in Paradise

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Elk in Paradise: it doesn’t get more idyllic than that. In Montana’s appropriately named Paradise Valley, an enormous amount of elk congregate to forage, rest, and find safety in numbers. Many travel straight over from Yellowstone National Park, which sits at the southern end of Paradise Valley.

Fully vaccinated Volgenau Foundation Wildlife Conservation Associate Blakeley Adkins (left) and host Kristin Kuhn (right) discuss GYC’s work in the Paradise Valley at Blakeley’s home in Livingston, Montana. (Photo GYC/Emmy Reed)

However, elk encounter numerous barriers within Paradise Valley. The road to Yellowstone National Park stretches through the valley and is a site for elk-vehicle collisions. Fences crisscross the landscape and make it difficult to elk to move uninhibited. Ranchers are wary of elk for their possible transmission of brucellosis, a disease harmful to cattle, to their own herds. So, what can we do to better coexist with elk in Paradise Valley?

In Episode 06, we’ll chat with the Greater Yellowstone Coalition’s Volgenau Foundation Wildlife Program Associate Blakeley Adkins. Blakeley focuses on wildlife issues in Paradise Valley and works with agencies, individuals, NGOs, and more to find creative solutions for reducing wildlife conflict. We’ll discuss why Paradise Valley is such a remarkable landscape and what innovative projects GYC is working on to keep elk and humans safe.

To Blakeley, doing this work is just another day in paradise.


Voices of Greater Yellowstone was created by the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, a conservation nonprofit dedicated to working with people to protect the lands, waters, and wildlife of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, now and for future generations.

The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is the land of 49+ Indigenous Tribes who maintain current and ancestral connections to the lands, waters, wildlife, plants, and more.

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Podcast Artwork > Rachel Dunlap Art

Music >
Redwood Trail by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...)
Artist: http://audionautix.com/


Thanks for listening in!

—Kristin Kuhn & Emmy Reed, GYC Communications

 
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Episode 07 | Tribal Rights and Yellowstone's 150th Anniversary

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Episode 05 | Yellowstone Rocks! Geology and Volcanology