Based on another commenter it appears that it is not merely about the number of elk, but likely also how they act.

But is see This has a human imperialist reaction: why don't we just micro manage everything!

There are other studies that show that reintroduction of wolves also appeared to lead to a decrease in coyotes and changed the populations and behaviors of other prey animals, in turn changing other plant populations. This particular headline does not indicate all the apparent changes. These second and third order effects are not things a state fish and game body would particularly care about until it was forced to by other arms of government.

Humans hunt very differently than wolves. The impacts on elk behavior are thus potentially very different.