The WYldlife Fund contributes $34,500 to the Absaroka Fence Initiative

The WYldlife Fund was honored to present a check for $34,500 to our good friends at the Absaroka Fence Initiative at the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission meeting on March 25th in Cody. This donation was made possible through a generous donation of a Wyoming Commissioner License by Commissioner Ashlee Lundvall. Thank you, Commissioner Lundvall!

The Absaroka Fence Initiative works in cooperation with willing landowners and land managers, and aims to ensure fences are functional for livestock management and wildlife movement across the landscape through on the ground projects, public workdays and outreach to the community.

Wildlife unfriendly fences can interrupt wildlife habitat connectivity and migration routes and create many other hazards for wildlife.

In a 2020 Wyoming study, each radio-collared mule deer encountered fences an average of 119 times each year and pronghorn antelope encountered fences at more than twice that rate, about 248 times per year. Pronghorn and mule deer alter their natural movement nearly 40% of the times they encounter fences. Such avoidance of fences can drive animals away from high-quality resources and reduce habitat use effectiveness.

A study of antelope, mule deer and elk mortality along 600 miles of road (1,200 miles of fence) in Utah and Colorado found 0.4 mortalities per year per mile of fence or one dead antelope every year per 5.6 miles of fence; one dead mule deer every year per 7.8 miles of fence and a dead elk every year for every 10.3 miles of fence. This equates to one dead animal every 2.5 miles of fence.

The WYldlife Fund will continue to support wildlife friendly fence work across Wyoming. You can learn more about the great work of the Absaroka Fence Initiative by heading to their website: https://absarokafenceinitiative.org.