ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATONAL PARK — The cow elk, apparently a maverick at heart, strayed just far enough from the herd Wednesday to earn a brief footnote in Colorado wildlife history.

With one crisp shot about 8 a.m., the adult cow collapsed in a meadow, becoming the fourth elk bagged in Rocky Mountain National Park's new culling program, an event fully recorded by the media.

The recent kills are a first for the park, which is using sharpshooters to keep the population in check and minimize the damage that too many elk can cause.

"We don't take this lightly," Ben Bobowski of the Rocky National Park staff said. "It's difficult for us to take down an animal."

Call it tough love, backcountry style. The program, seven years in the planning, is designed to take down a controlled number of elk - about 100 this year - to save both the elk herds and the park's wider ecosystem.

Exactly how many elk are in the park varies throughout the year. The park says the average winter count in the park and surrounding area ranges between 1,700 and 2,200. The objective is to keep the elk herd in the park in the 600 to 800 range.

Elk are ravenous grazers which, left to multiply unchecked, will destroy the park's groves of aspens and willows, park officials say. And some carry chronic wasting disease, an incurable and voracious brain killer.

But mindful of the sensitivities of some members of the public - as well as animal rights activists and environmentalists - the park invited the media to watch how the program worked.

"We want to be very transparent in this operation," said park spokeswoman Kyle Patterson.

In the past two weeks, the team, which includes carefully vetted, volunteer marksmen, has killed three elk. Wednesday's cow was the fourth.

Reporters and camera crews were brought to the kill area and watched the aftermath from about 350 yards away. Within minutes, seven volunteers, four park staff and a representative from the Colorado Division of Wildlife had field-dressed the carcass and lugged it to a waiting vehicle. Later, it was to be tested for CWD.

Among the volunteer shooters is an avid sportsman, construction worker and crack shot who agreed to be interviewed but declined to give his name. Patterson said the rangers wanted to protect him from "negative feedback" about the program.

"I'm not ashamed of what I do; I have a passion for these animals," he told reporters at an early- morning briefing. "But the ecosystem in the park is being absolutely destroyed - this (problem) is bigger than just the park."

Most of all, park officials want to banish the word "hunting" from the discussion. Hunting is banned in the park.

"If you can do anything, please explain this is not a hunt," Patterson said. Hunting is for sport, with an element of pleasure and personal gain. Culling is a conservation tool.

But not everyone agrees with the park's official line.

"It's a sad day for Rocky Mountain National Park when we're calling on snipers to shoot elk instead of restoring the park's natural heritage by putting wolves back on the landscape," said John Horning, executive director of WildEarth Guardians, a Santa Fe-based group which has sued to stop the culling program.

The park staff says this program is the beginning of a 20-year management effort to protect the entire park ecosystem. The park hasn't ruled out wolves as a future culling method.

Bobowski, a biologist, explained how the health of the whole park is interconnected, including the problem of an out- of-control elk population.

"Culling is a hot topic right now," Bobowski said. "But for us, (conservation) is all one big hot topic."

Elk culling Q & A

* What happens to the meat?

People who signed up for a lottery (deadline was last month) may be picked to win a full carcass. But first the animal is tested for chronic wasting disease.

* Why can't the meat go to the poor or to soup kitchens?

The people who win the meat must sign a waiver acknowledging there's still a slight risk of CWD even in animals that pass the screening. People who rely on others to prepare their food are unaware of that possibility, so they would have no chance to refuse the meat.

* How prevalent is CWD in the elk herds?

In a random testing last year of 117 elk at the park, 11 percent had CWD. Those animals were removed and killed. Of the four elk culled in the new program, two have tested negative for CWD. Tests continue for the third elk and for the elk killed Wednesday.

* What elk are targeted for culling?

Only female adults; to winnow the females slows the multiplication of the herds.

* Is culling all that's being done?

Fencing, among other techniques, is also being used to protect vegetation from the elk.

* Why do some environmentalists want wolves reintroduced to manage the elk population?

They consider it a more natural way to keep the herds in check.

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