The Bureau of Land Management recently released information outlining several areas of success in wildlife habitat enhancement and increasing access to public hunting land.
The measures include:
- Restoration of 480,000 acres of sagebrush habitat on public lands for sagebrush dependent species such as greater sage grouse, pronghorn, mule deer and elk.
- Restoration of 200,000 acres of additional wildlife habitat.
- Improvement of 163 miles of rivers and streams that serve as native and sport fish habitat.
- Development of partnerships with the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and nongovernmental organizations to improve habitat quality in western big game winter range and migration corridors.
- Implementation of 3,255 species recovery actions for threatened and endangered or candidate species across BLM-managed lands. These actions contributed to the successful recovery of six species.
- Acquired through the Trust for Public Land, the 600-acre ET Ranch, improving public access to the 6,600 acre BLM-managed North Santa Teresa Wilderness northwest of Stafford, AZ, and the nearby by 26,800-acre Santa Teresa Wilderness in the Coronado National Forest. Both areas are in the Santa Teresa Mountains and offer great hunting, hiking, and backpacking opportunities.
- Conducted vegetation treatments, in partnership with Colorado Parks and Wildlife, on more than 3,000 acres in the Dominquez-Escalante National Conservation Area using a combination of mechanical treatments and prescribed fire to remove pinyon and juniper trees, which encroach on sagebrush shrublands important to wildlife species, including mule deer.
