Sometimes acquiring private land to permanently protect its wildlife values and then conveying it to an agency so it becomes open to public access, just isn’t enough.
Simply put…sometimes stuff happens.
The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation worked with a landowner and several other partners to obtain a 160-acre property in southwest Wyoming.
Nestled in the Wyoming Range at the confluence of Miller and La Barge Creeks, it provides important winter range for elk, moose, mule deer and other critters. But it’s also crucial spawning and rearing habitat for cutthroat trout.
Once conveyed to the Bureau of Land Management, the property became available for hunters, anglers and others to use and enjoy while also improving access to 47,000 acres of adjacent public land.
Even then, sometimes getting there is the hardest part.
At one point, flooding and beaver activity caused the creek to swell which washed out the dirt road that offered access to that public land.
So RMEF and the BLM teamed up with a local contractor to bring in heavy machinery, fixing the entry point and re-opening the way just in time for hunting season.
Opening and improving public access is a key facet of RMEF’s conservation mission.
To learn more about the sites and boundaries of RMEF access projects near you or your favorite hunting area, turn on the RMEF layer in the onX Hunt App.