When wildlife habitat and associated research need help, you can’t do anything about it if you can’t get there.
That was the case in North Carolina elk country, specifically in the Buck Knob project area just south of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
A section of high-elevation road was not only both steep and shaded much of the day, but springs continued to seep into the roadbed, leaving it structurally unsound and difficult to use.
And because there was an important new wildlife opening created higher up on William H. Silver Game Land, funded in part by the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, where both habitat work and research takes place, maintaining access was key.
In 2023, the RMEF coupled its funding with hunter-generated Pittman-Robertson dollars acquired by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission to address the situation.
Work included grading and reshaping the road, cleaning water turnouts, applying gravel to steeper sections and replacing and installing culverts. Crews also installed a fixed radio telemetry receiver to help researchers track collared wildlife, birds, bats and even insects.
Stabilizing the road helps prevent sediment from entering an adjacent creek. And the improved roadway also serves as a fire break or improved access for fire control or prescribed burning operations.
Additionally, it improves public access for hunting and other recreational activities.
Restoring elk country is fundamental to RMEF’s mission of ensuring the future of elk, other wildlife, their habitat and our hunting heritage.
Since 1984, RMEF helped conserve or enhance nearly 9 million acres of wildlife habitat.