It may be cliché, but yes, sometimes big things really do come in small packages.
In this case, we’re talking big-time public access.
Due to the difficulty of reaching land managed by the Bureau of Land Management in southcentral Idaho, BLM defined the area as a national priority for public access.
To help alleviate the challenge, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation worked with a conservation-minded landowner to acquire a mere 23-acre property about halfway between Boise and Idaho Falls, some 30 miles north of Carey.
It supplies valuable winter range for elk, mule deer and pronghorn antelope – all of which is part of a larger migration corridor for those species.
It’s also home to black bears, mountain lions, greater sage-grouse, blue grouse and other wildlife.
Conveying the land to the BLM created a new access point to 13,000 acres of what was previously difficult-to-reach and nearly land-locked public land just beyond it.
RMEF, onX, STIHL and other volunteers, including nearby landowners, also helped prepare the entry point by building a parking area, walking bridge, and making improvements to the trailhead for hunting, hiking and other recreational activities.
Since 1984, RMEF has opened or improved public access to more than 1.6 million acres.
To view the sites and boundaries of RMEF land conservation and access projects, turn on the RMEF layer and use the code RMEF when you sign up for your onX subscription to receive a 20% discount.