The Jackson Hole elk herd, numbering about 11,000 animals, is one of the country’s outstanding natural resources. Approximately 7,500 elk winter on the 24,300-acre National Elk Refuge, which is administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and is one of more than 400 National Wildlife Refuges in the United States. Elk winter there for about 6 months each year, from November to May, pawing through snow to feed on natural grasses and standing forage. When natural forage is scarce, depleted, or covered by crusted snow and ice, supplemental feeding is necessary, and refuge employees feed alfalfa hay pellets each morning during the crucial winter months using special tractors and trailers to maintain the large herd through the worst weather. The National Elk Refuge is responsible for feeding the elk and furnishing the equipment, and it shares equally in feed costs with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. During the fall, elk are hunted on federal forest lands as well as in certain areas of the National Elk Refuge and Grand Teton National Park as a management tool to reduce elk numbers and control herd segments so the overall population remains compatible with the limited winter range in Jackson Valley.