The Tex Creek Wildlife Management Area in southeast Idaho has 34,000 acres of habitat for a wide range of wildlife ranging from elk, mule deer and moose to upland and migratory birds, small game and other species.
It is a mixture of state and federal lands managed by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game for wildlife habitat, hunting and other recreational activities.
And it’s an especially important landscape during the harsh winter months when up to 5,500 elk and 3,000 mule deer can be found there in search of life-sustaining forage.
The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and Idaho Fish and Game have a long collaborative history on Tex Creek, including a series of habitat enhancement projects as well as land conservation and access work.
Most recently, in early 2024, RMEF supported Idaho Fish and Game in expanding the WMA by 328 acres.
From 1997 to 2016, they worked with landowners and the Bureau of Land Management to add four parcels of elk habitat to the WMA, enlarging it by more than 3,200 acres or what was previously about 10 percent of its overall size.
Doing so conserved the wildlife values of the landscape and greatly expanded public access to it.
Since 1984 RMEF has opened or improved public access to 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.