September 2021 - 13

PROJECT PROFILES
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On a mission for you
The Wyoming Game and Fish Department works throughout the year to fulfill the mission
of " conserving wildlife, serving people. " A variety of projects, surveys and efforts are
underway across Wyoming to meet this charge. Some highlights of recent work include:
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Bud Love fence removal: Members of Backcountry Hunters
and Anglers, the Wyoming Wilderness Association,
Bureau of Land Management and Game and Fish handrolled
and removed almost one mile of old barbed-wire
and woven-wire fence at the Bud Love Wildlife Habitat
Management Area near Sheridan. The fence was leftover
from when the area was a working ranch. In all, Game and
Fish and volunteers have removed 2,000 pounds and 2½
miles of old fencing from the property.
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Highway 487: The Casper Region, in conjunction with
the Wyoming Department of Transportation, started a
project along Wyoming Highway 487 in Natrona and Carbon
counties to reduce mule deer-vehicle collisions while
also facilitating major pronghorn seasonal migrations.
Numerous mule deer are hit each year on this stretch of
highway due in part to being obscured by large shrubs
encroaching in the right-of-way. The goal is to chemically
kill shrubs to reduce resprouting and conduct follow-up
mowing. In addition, several miles of right-of-way fence
are being converted to a wildlife-friendly fence design to
improve pronghorn movements.
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Water turbidity: The Lander Region is measuring
turbidity in streams and bays that fill Boysen Reservoir
in an effort to determine if there is a relationship
between turbidity and juvenile sauger recruitment.
Runoff from snowmelt and spring rain events increase
water turbidity, which often coincides with May sauger
spawning. Larval sauger are carried by runoff into Boysen
Reservoir where turbid water protects the young from
predators by making them difficult to see. Protection
may not exist if the timing of stream flow and sauger
spawning don't coincide. Monitoring efforts are planned
for the next several years.
Burrowing owl findings: Game and Fish participated in
a project to trap and place transmitters on burrowing owls
throughout Wyoming from late June through early July on
public and private lands. Thirty-one owls were captured
and 24 transmitters were deployed across four of the five
trapping areas, which spanned from Pinedale to Cheyenne.
Twenty-one participants from state and federal agencies,
conservation organizations, oil, gas and coal industries
and private citizens took part in the project. Results will
connect Wyoming breeding areas to the owls' migration
routes and wintering grounds.
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Treasure Island upgrades: Work began in late July at
the Treasure Island Public Access Area south of Saratoga
along the North Platte River. The access point will be
closed until the spring of 2022. Game and Fish is making
improvements to the parking lot to allow for more
vehicles and better traffic flow. Work on the river will
improve safety at the watercraft launch site during low
water flows as well as safety for boats floating past the
area during high flows.
Uinta deer study: Game and Fish and the Wyoming
Migration Initiative initiated a study of the Uinta deer
herd in southwest Wyoming where 50 GPS radio collars
were placed on mule deer does. The study also will gain
a better understanding of the impacts of vehicle-deer
collisions along Interstate 80 and on U.S. highways 89
and 189. Other partners in this project include: Mule
Deer Foundation, Muley Fanatic Foundation. Knobloch
Family Foundation and the Wyoming Governor's Big
Game License Coalition.
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Raymond Mountain access: Raymond Mountain Public
Access Area near Cokeville is getting an upgrade. Game
and Fish is constructing roads, fencing, signage and
a parking area to provide access to the 33,000-acre
Raymond Mountain Wilderness Study Area. In August,
volunteers with the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and
Backcountry Hunters lent a hand to construct fences,
horse corrals and add signage. The remainder of the
fencing will be completed next summer.
Wyoming Wildlife | 13
Stream work with landowners: Conservation partners
came together in August to host a workshop to teach
private landowners in Sublette County how to install
beaver dam analogs and zeedyk rock structures on eroded
streams to help restore and enhance wet-meadow habitats.
The training was led by Game and Fish Habitat Mitigation
Biologist Kerry Gold along with the Natural Resources
Conservation Service, Sublette County Conservation District,
The Nature Conservancy and U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service. The workshop consisted of a virtual lesson and a
field component at the Bar Cross ranch in Cora.
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September 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of September 2021