Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation Launches Plan to Conserve 2.5 Million Acres of Arizona’s Wildlife Habitat, Ranch Lands

Arizona Outdoorsman / AZOD

Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation Launches Plan to Conserve 2.5 Million Acres of Arizona’s Wildlife Habitat, Ranch Lands

PHOENIX, Ariz.— Arizona’s legendary elk herds captivate hunters everywhere. Although the state’s elk range is small compared to other Western states, some of the highest quality elk in the U.S. reside right here.

But this is a critical time for elk country in Arizona. As recreational and development pressures spiral upward, millions of acres of federal, state and private lands will be impacted over the next few decades. The American Farmland Trust predicts that 1.3 million acres of the state’s richest ranchland—much of which is high mountain grasslands that provide critical habitat for elk and other wildlife—could disappear by the year 2020.

To help protect those ranches and the wildlife they sustain, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation recently announced the Arizona Conservation Initiative, a collaborative effort with the U.S. Forest Service, Arizona Game and Fish Department and other stakeholders to prioritize and address resource issues that affect elk and other wildlife throughout Arizona’s elk range.

“The goal is to protect wildlife habitat, support rural lifestyles and promote responsible stewardship by bringing landowners, local communities, conservation organizations and other state and federal agencies to the table to identify concerns and develop solutions,” said Dave Kelner, the foundation’s vice president of southwest operations.

In 2003, the Elk Foundation began its initiative program, a landscape-scale habitat conservation effort that focuses its resources on areas where elk habitat is most imminently threatened and where opportunities exist to protect and enhance it. The foundation identifies these landscapes using state of the art GIS mapping systems and information from state and federal wildlife agencies to plot crucial elk winter and summer ranges, migration corridors and calving grounds, along with advancing urban sprawl, changing land uses and much more.

The initiative area encompasses about 2.5 million acres in central Arizona’s high rim country, stretching across four national forests and three game and fish regions from Grand Canyon National Park near Tusayan across the Mogollon Rim to the Alpine area near the Arizona-New Mexico border. Within this landscape, the partners identified six crucial areas where they will focus resources toward issues such as habitat loss and how to enhance what remains, elk-livestock conflicts, water availability and watershed protection, weed management, research and conservation education.

One of the focus areas encompasses about 522 square miles surrounding Tusayan, and includes portions of the Kaibab National Forest and GMU 9. The area supports winter and summer elk herds, antelope, turkeys and habitat for a recovering condor population. However, encroaching pinyon-juniper forest, overgrazing near water sources and a prolonged drought have deteriorated the range for both elk and cattle. When a rancher goes out of business, their land is often subdivided and developed.

Through the initiative, the partners are working on a plan to construct a 50 mile-long water pipeline to provide a guaranteed water source that will better disperse wildlife and livestock and take the grazing pressure off existing water holes. In addition, they hope to help restore range conditions by removing encroaching pinyon-juniper through prescribed fire and mechanical methods.

To fund these projects and others through the Arizona Conservation Initiative, the Elk Foundation plans to raise $250,000 in 2004. The long-term funding needs for this initiative could exceed $20 million. To learn more about the initiative and how you can help, contact Dave Kelner at (480) 987-7723.

In 2004, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation is celebrating its 20th Anniversary. Founded and headquartered in Montana, the non-profit Elk Foundation has permanently protected more than 1,000 square miles of critical elk habitat and enhanced another 3.3 million acres of elk country. In addition, the Foundation has funded more than 1,000 projects to promote conservation education and North America’s hunting heritage. To help pass on an elk country legacy for future generations, visit www.elkfoundation.org or call 800-CALL ELK.