Aspen, elk and other critters are the big winners thanks to a habitat enhancement project in west-central Wyoming near Lander. The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and a host of other partners provided funding to restore aging aspen stands where conifers are replacing them.
“The area provides crucial winter, parturition, and transitional range for deer, pronghorn, elk, moose, as well as important summer sage-grouse habitat,” said Amy Anderson, Wyoming Game and Fish habitat biologist. “Over the past several decades the health of the habitat in that area has declined, and this project hopes to reverse that trend.”
Other goals of the project include reducing wildfire risk through the removal of fuels and improving shrub, riparian and stream communities to benefit wildlife.
(Photo source: Wyoming Game and Fish Department)