Colorado Parks and Wildlife has drafted a new elk herd management plan covering the Uncompahgre Plateau for the first time since 2006, which officials say will allow for status quo management of the healthy herd and have little effect on local hunters.

When this plan was updated about 15 years ago, CPW called for a target population of 8,500 to 9,500 elk within the herd. The proposed plan, which is open for public comment until Dec. 20, has a goal of a larger herd size – with 11,000 to 15,000 a...