The Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) recently finalized a land acquisition in the Bull’s Fork area east of Idaho Falls. The property adds an additional 1,552 acres to the Tex Creek Wildlife Management Area (WMA) and is open to the public for hunting and trapping.
“Not only does the new property provide additional access to hunting opportunity, but it helps provide long-term protection of lands that are critical to maintaining migration pathways for mule deer and elk,” said Ryan Walker, IDFG Tex creek Biologist. “It connects large portions of the surrounding public lands to several pieces of private property that are already enrolled in the Access Yes! program.”
Beginning in 1997 and wrapping up in 2016, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation carried out four different projects phases that transferred 3,250 acres into public ownership-all of which, at the time, made up about 10 percent of the 34,000-acre WMA.
Go here to view a video about the RMEF conservation/public access work at Tex Creek.
The new acquisition consists of sagebrush steppe, aspen forests, and riparian bottoms along the Kepp’s Crossing and Skyline roads. Funding for the acquisition is part of a mitigation agreement reached between IDFG and the Bonneville Power Administration.
(Photo source: Idaho Department of Fish and Game)