Wisconsin’s newest elk herd is getting some habitat help in the form of a stepped-up fight against noxious weeds. The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation awarded $10,300 in grant funding to fight buckthorn and phragmites in the west-central part of the state.
“These plants create monocultures which is a stand of a single plant and these plants are non-native and out-compete native plants,” Donald Houser, Jackson County Forestry and Parks forest technician, told the Lacrosse Tribune. “If we didn’t have the grants we wouldn’t have the money to treat this,” Houser said.
RMEF worked with partners to successfully restore wild, free-ranging elk to their historic range in Jackson County from 2015-2017.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is also working to create more openings in the woods to benefit for elk, deer, birds and a wide range of other wildlife.
Since 1990, RMEF and its partners completed 404 conservation and hunting heritage outreach projects in Wisconsin with a combined value of more than $7.7 million. These projects conserved or enhanced 4,065 acres of habitat and opened or improved public access to 1,270 acres.