Crescent Meadows - 1945 and 2019

Two members of a hunting party eat lunch in Crescent Meadows. The ground they are standing on looks relatively grazed of its grasses; this in turn increases the shrub component, as one can see with the presence of sagebrush in the historical photograph. Whether or not a rancher was grazing cattle in Crescent Meadows in the 1940s is not readily identifiable, but elk graze similarly to cattle, rather than just browsing as deer do. Though there lies some contention about whether elk were historically characteristic of the Big Creek area, their population did begin to increase near 1950. It is possible the grasses and forbs that would be covering the ground in 1945 were grazed upon by elk. The elk population in Big Creek has been declining, which means fewer sagebrush and more grasses and forbs in Crescent Meadows, as can be seen in the contemporary photograph.

Location: Crescent Meadows Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness, ID

Latitude & Longitude: 45.1882, -115.0368