Top photo: It isn't easy being an elk in the Gallatin Valley and growing more difficult with each passing month. Wapiti, including calves, must navigate a growing maze of obstacles, including roads where harried drivers in vehicles travel at high speeds, fences, structures and even loose barking dogs that force elk to divert course. Photo just above: Remote pockets of elk and habitat in the eastern Gallatin Valley are becoming rarer and rarer. Even if open spaces is protected in the middle of the valley, they often are rendered islands by sprawl and therefore unable to be reached by species like elk. Photos by Holly Pippel. Click on image to enlarge.