Critical Elk Migration Gets Boost

The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation provided $180,000 in funding from its Torstenson Family Endowment to help continue critical elk migration corridor mapping across the West.

The grant to the University of Wyoming assists west-wide corridor mapping work, conducted collaboratively by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and western state wildlife agencies. The migration work is coordinated through the USGS Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, based on the campus in Laramie.

“Gaining additional scientific knowledge about where and how elk migrate identifies key movement routes, winter range and vital habitat to facilitate the identification and prioritization of threats and opportunities for conservation along migration corridors. Doing so helps game managers ensure strong, thriving populations for years to come,” said Blake Henning, RMEF chief conservation officer. “We recognize and express our appreciation to the broad coalition of state and federal biologists for their ongoing, concerted efforts.”

Recognizing the need for a standard approach to mapping migrations, the USGS created an ungulate corridor mapping team consisting of biologists and researchers from many western wildlife management agencies after the issuance of Secretarial Order 3362 in 2018.

The team compiled and issued its first volume in 2020 that features 42 migrations and nine winter ranges. Volume two is due out in February 2022 with 65 more migrations and 24 winter ranges.

This new funding will help researchers chart migration route data for 17 new elk herds and continue development of an online platform for managers and the public alike to view the corridors across the West.

“This support is testimony to what the western state wildlife agencies and the USGS have been able to accomplish through strong partnerships,” said Matt Kauffman, the USGS researcher leading the mapping team. “This funding will allow us to expand and accelerate our work in the coming year to map the most critical migration corridors.”

The grant funding will also help the mapping team work with state and federal partners to incorporate new and existing migration maps into conservation planning on both public and private lands.