Sagebrush plays a vital role for scores of big game and other wildlife species, especially across vast tracts of the West.
About 150 miles south of Salt Lake City in the Gooseberry drainage of central Utah, an expansion of water-gulping pinyon and juniper degrades sagebrush leading to diminished forage productivity, which contributes to a decrease in mule deer populations.
The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation first offered funding support to combat the issue in the 1990s.
Then jumped back in the 2000s with the start of a multi-year, landscape-scale, collaborative effort across U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, state and private lands that serve as an important wildlife habitat area, providing summer, transition and winter range for deer and elk.
Crews applied a combination of big machinery chaining, mastication and hand-thinning with chainsaws across tens of thousands of acres.
Removing encroaching pinyon and junipers allows sagebrush, native grasses and mountain brush to reclaim hillsides.
In addition to elk and deer, that’s good news for mountain lions, wild turkey, grouse, raptors, rabbits, fish and other wildlife.
RMEF volunteers also pitched in to install four fenced wildlife water guzzlers with others in the works.
Gooseberry is highly popular for hunting, fishing, camping and serves as one of Utah’s more popular snowmobiling areas.
ONE SQUARE MILE A DAY.
OVER 10 MILLION ACRES BY 2030.
At RMEF, we’re not just conserving what’s here today, we’re creating what’s possible for tomorrow. That means more access, healthier habitats and a stronger future for all big game.