Elk walking into an aspen grove are much like kids walking into a candy shop.
Yet aspen need space to breathe, thrive and grow…and that benefits elk.
The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation is stepping up by putting money on the ground to encourage and enhance aspen health and growth.
One such example is the ongoing Monroe Mountain aspen ecosystems restoration project in the Fishlake National Forest of central Utah.
Crews use a combination of thinning, prescribed burning and pre-planning for future treatment to remove the surging conifer population across 2,200 acres of forestland.
That allows aspen to regenerate and quality forage to increase in the form of a greater number of different plant species.
The winners are elk, deer, small game, raptors, insects and other bird and animal life.
Plus overall forest health is improved by reducing hazardous fuel accumulations which in turn reduces the risk of large, intense wildfires.
More than 95 percent of RMEF’s 227,000 members are hunters.
Funded and supported by hunters, projects like this one highlight how Hunting Is Conservation.