INTEGRATED REMOTE-SENSING AND GIS TECHNIQUES FOR ELK HABITAT MANAGEMENT

This inter-disciplinary study of habitat use by Rocky Mountain elk (Ce rvus elaphus nelsoni Bailey 1935), and of conflicts with human land us e and development zoning, uses remote sensing, image processing, and g eographic information systems for data manipulation and analysis. The project included the application of home range algorithms, satellite i mage classification, and geographic information systems (GIS) to ident ify and map critical habitat zones where elk and humans interact and c ompete for limited space and other resources in an area of the souther n Rocky Mountains of central Colorado. Results reveal an ever increasi ng invasion by humans into prime elk habitat areas and the need for be tter control of human development in the mountain environments of the American West.