BLM WYOMING & ROCKY MOUNTAIN ELK FOUNDATION IMPROVE HABITAT
The Worland Field Office and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF) have completed their 26th cooperative project to benefit wildlife in the foothills of the Absaroka Range in northwest Wyoming.
The projects, which began in 1988, utilize prescribed burns and mechanical thinning with chainsaws to remove encroaching conifers from upland sagebrush, aspen and riparian communities. The resulting increase in grasses, forbs, aspen, willow and cottonwood provides more winter forage for elk and better browsing for moose, elk and mule deer. Conifer removal in upland mountain sagebrush communities and riparian habitats will benefit sage-grouse by removing raptor perches and decreasing fuel loading and risk of wildfire.
And if that wasn’t enough, since the grizzly bear is an omnivore that consumes substantial amounts of herbaceous vegetation, and because the grizzly bear, grey wolf and Canada lynx are predators that prey on herbivores, many of the beneficial direct effects for big game will benefit these species as well.
In addition to RMEF funds used primarily to cover labor costs, the LU Ranch, Buckles Ranch and Wyoming Game and Fish Department partnered to provide support for the projects. The ranches provided livestock grazing deferment to support prescribed fire and mechanical treatments and allowed conifer tree removal on and across their private lands. The WGFD helped to identify aspen clones in need of treatment and provided personnel to help with the larger prescribed fires.
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