Elk (Cervus elaphus) populations in Rocky Mountain National Park are higher than at any time in the past century, and heavy browsing by elk may interfere with aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) regneration. We used aerial photographs to identify all aspen stands within Rocky Mountain National Park, and all aspen stands within the elk winter range range (defined as 2400 to 2800 m elevation) in three portions of the adjacent Roosevelt National Forest. From this population of aspen stands, we randomly selected 57 stands for evaluation of aspen regeneration. Stands that contained stems younger than 30 years and taller than 2.5 m tall were classified as regenerating successfully. Only 20% of the aspen stands in Estes Valley contained a [...]
