Dec. 2021 - 17

classes, increase herbaceous forage quantity
and quality and stimulate aspen growth.
With widespread loss of conifer cover
through the wildfire, many travel corridors
for bighorn sheep have opened and increased
access to rocky, steep, escape terrain along the
North Platte River and associated tributaries.
Wildlife monitoring
Game and Fish plans to monitor big game
species through several research projects to
fully understand the effects from the fire.
The Mullen Creek Fire included a substantial
portion of the Douglas Creek Bighorn
Sheep Herd Unit. The fire, and resulting
habitat change, offers potential for shifts in
sheep distribution and possibly population
expansion. Of the original nine ewes collared
in 2019, eight are still alive. Data from these
collars indicates ewes are traveling farther
and staying longer in habitats that were not
utilized prior to the fire. These collars are
coming to the end of their functionality
and need to be replaced. Game and Fish will
collar 20 ewes this winter in the Douglas
Creek herd, including recollaring the eight
ewes previously collared. This will monitor
the same individual sheep pre- and postfire
and provide a strong understanding of
potential population expansion as well as
change in habitat use.
Game and Fish managers also are interested
in how the changes to the Snowy Range
moose habitats could impact the moose herd.
The Snowy Range moose population has
been studied frequently over the past 15
years. Game and Fish plans to collar several
female moose in the fire area this winter and
monitor their movements for three years to
compare moose habitat use and movement
before and after the fire.
Forty-five Platte Valley mule deer were
fitted with GPS collars in February 2020.
The primary objective was to evaluate movement
data. Several of these collared deer
interacted with burned habitats over the
last year. Movements will continue to be
monitored to determine which habitats are
selected or avoided.
- Lee Knox is the senior wildlife biologist for the
Wyoming Game and Fish Department in the Laramie
Region.
- Teal Cufaude is a wildlife biologist for the Wyoming
Game and Fish Department in Saratoga.
Fire not only provides favorable conditions for plant growth, it also offers opportunities for colorful plants to flourish. (Photo
by Lee Knox/WGFD)
Wyoming Wildlife | 17
Ryan Amundson, Game and Fish terrestrial habitat biologist, explains the importance of healthy aspen communities to a group of citizens
that participated in a Sheep Mountain Mule Deer Initiative field tour around the Mullen Creek Fire burn area. (Photo by Lee Knox/WGFD)
Fire can set back succession in plant communities, which
results in favorable conditions to grow important wildlife
forage such as grasses, forbs, willows and mixedmountain
shrubs.

Dec. 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Dec. 2021

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