MISSOULA, Mont.—The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation awarded $269,750 in grant funding to assist with habitat stewardship projects and elk research in the state of Oregon.
The grants benefit 9,106 acres across Baker, Crook, Douglas, Grant, Klamath, Lake, Lane, Lincoln, Linn, Morrow, Tillamook, Union, Wallowa and Yamhill Counties.
“The Starkey Experimental Forest and Range offers a unique opportunity to study elk behavior, nutrition, population densities, habitat conditions and other elements that can benefit at-large elk populations,” said Blake Henning, RMEF chief conservation officer. “Additional grant funding will enhance elk habitat through a variety of hands-on stewardship work across Oregon.”
Since 1986, RMEF and its partners completed 856 conservation and hunting heritage outreach projects in Oregon with a combined value of more than $56.9 million. These projects conserved or enhanced 792,276 acres of habitat and opened or improved public access to 90,703 acres.
Volunteers in Oregon raised the funding by hosting chapter banquets, membership drives and other events.
Here is a sampling of the 2017 projects, listed by county:
Grant County—Provide funding to place radio collars on five elk on the Phillip W. Schneider Wildlife Area so researchers can better understand elk migration from winter to summer range in order to guide future collaring projects and management decisions including harvest timing and allocation.
Lane County—Enhance 299 acres of Roosevelt elk habitat on the Willamette National Forest through a combination of prescribed burning and noxious weed treatment followed by mulching, inoculation with fungi, seeding and planting burned and sprayed areas, and installation of three wildlife water guzzlers.
Union County—Thin 820 acres from the Starkey Wildlife Management Unit on the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest to create a mosaic of cover and open area to increase forage quantity and quality as a benefit to elk habitat, increase forest resiliency to insect outbreaks and fire, and help restore ecological functions within the watershed (also benefits Baker County); and provide funding for research at the Starkey Experimental Forest and Range to determine if elk population performance increases at lower densities which will assist managers to more effectively set population management objectives in order to maximize population performance, hunter opportunity and increase understanding of the nutritional and habitat requirements of mule deer.
Oregon project partners include the Deschutes, Fremont, Malheur, Ochoco, Siuslaw, Umatilla, Wallowa-Whitman, and Willamette National Forests, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, and private landowners as well as sportsmen, government, civic and other organizations.
About the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation:
Founded over 30 years ago, fueled by hunters and a membership of more than 220,000 strong, RMEF has conserved more than 7.1 million acres for elk and other wildlife. RMEF also works to open and improve public access, fund and advocate for science-based resource management, and ensure the future of America’s hunting heritage. Discover why “Hunting Is Conservation™” at www.rmef.org or 800-CALL ELK. Take action: join and/or donate.
Below is a complete listing of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation’s 2017 grants for the state of Pennsylvania. Find more information here.Crook County—Thin encroaching junipers across 852 acres in the Paulina Ranger District of the Ochoco National Forest to enhance year-round, winter, summer and calving and fawning habitat for elk and mule deer; and enhance 1,000 acres of elk and other wildlife range within the Lower McKay Watershed on the Ochoco National Forest to redistribute elk and deer away from private lands adjacent to the Grizzly Wildlife Management Unit by removing encroaching junipers, burning, constructing wildlife-friendly fencing around seeps, springs and riparian areas, and restoring two troughs.
Douglas County—Create nine acres of cleared, fertilized and seeded new forest openings, remove encroaching conifers on 33 acres, mow nine acres and fertilize 17 acres of existing openings as well as mow 12 miles of hunter trails, and plant shrubs on an additional 33 acres in the Diamond Lake Ranger District on the Umpqua National Forest to improve forage nutrition and abundance for wildlife.
Grant County—Provide funding to place radio collars on five elk on the Phillip W. Schneider Wildlife Area so researchers can better understand elk migration from winter to summer range in order to guide future collaring projects and management decisions including harvest timing and allocation; thin encroaching conifers to improve the health and vigor of 240 acres of aspen habitat bordering the southern edge of Bear Valley south of John Day on the Malheur National Forest to benefit elk and mule deer calving and fawning habitat as well as habitat for an array of other species; and prescribe burn 3,000 acres followed by noxious weed treatment on 100 acres of the project area in the Heppner Game Management Unit on the Umatilla National Forest to improve forage on late winter and spring elk range.
Lake County—Remove and pile encroaching conifers within 732 acres of aspen and meadow habitat as part of the second year of a multi-year landscape level aspen restoration project within the North Warner Mountains on the Fremont National Forest.
Lane County—Enhance 299 acres of Roosevelt elk habitat on the Willamette National Forest through a combination of prescribed burning and noxious weed treatment followed by mulching, inoculation with fungi, seeding and planting burned and sprayed areas, and installation of three wildlife water guzzlers; and restore and enhance seven meadows, two ponds and two wetlands plus burn slash piles followed by seeding and planting across 102 acres in the Upper McKenzie River Watershed on the Willamette National Forest (also benefits Linn County).
Linn County—Remove encroaching conifers and apply noxious weed treatment and prescribed fire across 55 acres of meadow habitat in the Sweet Home Ranger District on the Willamette National Forest to benefit migration corridors and foraging habitat for elk and other wildlife.
Klamath County—Restore water flow and riparian vegetation within Big Marsh and Big Marsh Creek on the Deschutes National Forest through thinning and burning treatments across 616 acres. A half mile of user-created OHV trail will be decommissioned to reduce disturbance to elk but access to the area will be maintained by re-opening a half a mile of Forest Road 5825-540 and re-establishing approximately two miles of the Big Marsh Trail.
Tillamook County—Remove encroaching vegetation and apply noxious weed treatment to 135 acres of meadows on the Siuslaw National Forest to benefit Roosevelt elk (also benefits Lincoln and Yamhill Counties).
Umatilla County—Remove encroaching conifers from 92 acres of aspen habitat scattered across eight drainages in the Heppner Game Management Unit on the Umatilla National Forest followed by the construction of temporary fencing around aspen stands to allow for regeneration and growth.
Union County—Thin 820 acres from the Starkey Wildlife Management Unit on the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest to create a mosaic of cover and open area to increase forage quantity and quality as a benefit to elk habitat, increase forest resiliency to insect outbreaks and fire, and help restore ecological functions within the watershed (also benefits Baker County); and provide funding for research at the Starkey Experimental Forest and Range to determine if elk population performance increases at lower densities which will assist managers to more effectively set population management objectives in order to maximize population performance, hunter opportunity and increase understanding of the nutritional and habitat requirements of mule deer.
Wallowa County—Apply low intensity prescribed fire treatment to 500 acres in the Chesnimnus Wildlife Management Unit on the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest to remove decadent grasses and shrubs and stimulate regrowth in open grasslands and the understory within stands of dry ponderosa pine and Douglas fir to improve elk distribution in spring/summer/fall ranges and encourage elk into historic early spring and winter ranges, attracting them away from private property where damage complaints are common; and treat 550 acres as part of an ongoing, integrated weed management program across federal, state and private lands in the canyons and grasslands of the Grande Ronde and Imnaha River watersheds to benefit migration corridors and calving grounds for elk.