A private parcel of land, vital to the future success of mule deer in Wyoming, has been permanently secured by the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission. Acquiring the 364-acre parcel of land between Fremont Lake and Pinedale was a high-priority project, affecting a significant portion of the mule deer’s migration corridor.
“I think you’d have a hard time finding a private parcel more important to mule deer anywhere in the state,” Hall Sawyer, a research biologist told the Casper Star Tribune. “It’s a private parcel that has 5,000 mule deer that migrate through it twice a year. It’s a big deal.”
The area was originally acquired by The Conservation Fund, an environmental non-profit organization, in 2015 who worked diligently to conserve the area, developing a sagebrush habitat plan, improving elk fencing in the area among other initiatives.
Now that the Game and Fish Commission controls the area, they plan to protect it forever. The area known as the Like Lynch Wildlife Habitat Management Area, will be closed during the winter months but will be open during other times of the year for public viewing and hunting opportunities.
The state will continue with the sagebrush rehabilitation and other conversation efforts to ensure the future success of this vital migration route.