GREEN RIVER— A whole bunch of heavy steel pipe, heavy lifting, and a lot of heavy sweat went into the construction of a portable steel jack fence on Little Mountain July 30.
More importantly, some of that heavy lifting has been going on for months, in meeting rooms and conference calls, resulting in a project that serves as an excellent example of conservation groups, agencies, and businesses coming together to ‘do the right thing’ for Little Mountain landscape and its wildlife.
The cooperative project is a ‘who’s who” in wildlife conservation and local businesses made possible through grant monies, donation of materials, and or hard labor. Partners include the Southwest Chapter of the Muley Fanatic Foundation (MFF), Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI), Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Sweetwater County Conservation District, Wexpro Energy, Breitburn Energy, and R&M Welding.
Workers constructed the modified steel jack fencing to keep ungulates (elk, moose, and cattle) from over-browsing the aspen stands, 1-3 acres in size, on Little Mountain, while still allowing some mule deer and pronghorn access to these same aspen stands.
Aspen stand fencing is expected to significantly reduce levels of larger ungulate browsing to aspen regeneration less than six feet in height, so that young aspen trees are able to growth vertically unimpeded into mature trees and maintain stable stands on the Little Mountain landscape over time.
This project will result in the creation of representative aspen stand control areas on Little Mountain to compare and evaluate the response of sites with limited ungulate browsing use to those sites with unrestricted ungulate browsing. Aspen control stands are expected to be an integral component for facilitating a deer and elk ecology research project currently being planned this year.
“By excluding most ungulate use we hope to encourage unimpeded vertical growth of aspen regeneration for stand replacement and promote healthy aspen habitat conditions with lush and diverse understories,” said Game and Fish Green River Aquatic Habitat Biologist Kevin Spence/
“We selected three sites and they will also serve as representative Little Mountain aspen control stands, allowing managers to evaluate aspen habitat potential where large ungulate browsing has been removed, except for deer and antelope use. These aspen control stands may prove invaluable for facilitating a South Rock Springs deer and elk ecology research project (D.E.E.R.) currently being planned by the University of Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Muley Fanatic Foundation, and the Game and Fish.”
The Southwest Chapter of Muley Fanatics Foundation, co founded by Joshua Coursey and Joey Faigl in 2012, has been an active conservation group in southwest Wyoming, maintaining that 70 percent of the money raised at their fundraising event is spent on projects to benefit mule deer and other wildlife in southwest Wyoming.
Their motto “Do the Right Thing” is also proudly displayed on the front door of their office.
“The Little Mountain landscape supports some of the most ecologically diverse wildlife habitats found in southwest Wyoming,” said Joshua Coursey. “The top of the mountain itself literally is an oasis in the high desert ecosystem supporting montane habitat types of mixed mountain shrubs, aspen, riparian, and conifer, which supports numerous terrestrial and aquatic wildlife ranging from Neotropical migrant bird species to Colorado River cutthroat trout.
“Mule deer, elk, and cattle tend to be concentrated on the mountain top oasis during the summer months to give birth and rear their fawns and calves. Cow elk and doe deer rely heavily on the nutritious forage in the understories of aspen on Little Mountain to successfully rear their young.” – Joshua Coursey, Southwest Chapter of Muley Fanatics Foundation.
“Browsing impacts to aspen suckers at many locations impede vertical growth, and some sites exhibit browsing severe enough to cause retrogression and death of aspen suckers,” Coursey said. “This heavy browsing not only limits vertical growth, but also weakens vigor and subjects aspen regeneration to losses from disease and insects. The cumulative effects of ungulate browsing likely are preventing enough young aspen trees from growing to maturity and being able to replace older trees in a stand when they die, and ultimately reducing the amount of aspen habitat present on the Little Mountain landscape.”
So how much and what was donated? WLCI funded $50,000, WGFD funded $34,200, Muley Fanatic Foundation Southwest Chapter $15,000 and hard labor, Sweetwater County Conservation District $5,000, Wexpro Energy donated 9,000 feet of drill stem pipe, Breitburn Energy donated 6,000 ft of drill stem pipe, R&M Welding provided the design of the fence, fabrication, delivery to project site, assistance in erecting the fence, and the BLM completed the environmental review and approval of the fence, as well as assisting with the fence construction.
“Little Mountain aspen stands need our help,” Spence said. “Aspen habitat is extremely important for numerous wildlife species, but represents only a small percentage of the Little Mountain oasis situated within the larger high desert ecosystem. The goal of the project is to promote stable aspen stands on this landscape over time. There are a lot of good people and good conservation groups who are making this fencing project and many other worthwhile wildlife habitat improvement projects possible. Little Mountain is a local jewel; we will all keep working to protect and maintain the quality that we all know- Little Mountain.”
