Twenty-five elk in Wind Cave National Park were recently fitted with GPS (Global Positioning System) radio collars to help monitor elk inside the park for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD).

They had me surrounded at the border. The border of Wind Cave National Park and Custer State Park, that is. And “they” were a dusty herd of bison, moving from one lush meadow of grass to another, with their skittish young in tow.

Seventy-five degrees at mid-day, no noticeable humidity, Northern flickers calling in the background in their seasonal courting ritual. And five deer, working on losing their winter coats, moseying past my campsite while I worked on this story. Add the breathtaking setting of the Black Hills, the vacant campsites surrounding me, and it’s hard not to argue that the Elk Mountain Campground at Wind Caves National Park is perfect.

Wind Cave National Park recently conducted a capture and processing operation to reduce the size of the park’s bison herd by 131 animals. Partnering with wildlife managers in four states, these bison will be sent to establish conservation herds or augment existing herds managed by The Nature Conservancy, Arizona Game and Fish Department, and the Kalispel Tribe.