My brother-in-law was a wildland firefighter and claimed that elk will move out ahead of the fire, and then return to the area shortly thereafter. He claimed that they loved to eat the bark off the trees in the burned areas. I found that interesting. He says the minerals move to the exterior of the tree and the elk love it. (extra horn growth maybe?)
So I have a question about elk and fires. Fire can travel very rapidly, especially when it is wind driven. Flaming pine cones can become airborne 1000 ft or more out in front of the fire, extending the fire. How does that affect the elk? What about in areas like the Gila National Forest? Anyone have any info on how the wildlife are managing down there? It has burned 265+ square miles as of last week. Gila's current management practices will make it a model in the future for fire management. So I expect the elk to do better than in other areas that get moonscaped by fire. Hopefully Utah doesn't burn too badly this year.