Fire applied to a landscape can go a long way toward improving and enhancing habitat for elk and other wildlife.
The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation provided funding for recent prescribed burning activity on the
Jicarilla Ranger District of the Carson National Forest.
Most of the places elk historically thrived in North America were shaped by frequent wildfires. Elk fatten up and prosper on the burst of grasses and forbs that follow in the path of healthy fires, and amid the new trees and shrubs that are reborn from fire with fresh growth. Prescribed burns not only improve elk habitat, but applied carefully, can drastically reduce the threat of catastrophic wildfires in the future.
To date, RMEF helped fund more than 1,200 prescribed burn projects to restore healthy habitat to more than 1.4 million acres.
(Photo source: Carson National Forest)