For The Cortez Journal

Ranger Paul Morey will discuss the natural history of elk and their management within and around Mesa Verde on Friday, Sept. 18, 2015, at the Far View Lodge in Mesa Verde National Park. The program begins at 7 p.m. and is free to the public.

Morey will be discussing elk biology, the history of elk management in Colorado, elk use by Ancestral Pueblo peoples, and current elk management in our area. An early field trip the next morning will give participants a chance to see and hear elk inside the park.

Morey has been the wildlife program manager at Mesa Verde for the past five years. He is responsible for managing wildlife in the park ranging from bees to elk and everything in between. He has researched and managed wildlife for five different federal agencies, including working with wolves and elk in Arizona and New Mexico, and managing elk habitat with the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service in the San Juan Mountains.

The presentation is part of the Four Corners Lecture Series. For a list of other programs in the series, go to www.mesaverde.org/four-corners-lecture-series