Elk Foundation helps expand Tex Creek wildlife area

The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation has transferred 398 acres of prime elk habitat 15 miles east of Idaho Falls to the Bureau of Land Management.

With funding provided by BLM’s Land and Water Conservation Recreational Access Fund and the foundation’s Torstenson Family Endowment, the property will be used to expand the 34,000 acre Tex Creek Wildlife Management Area.

“This land provides vital winter range for upwards of 7,000 elk and mule deer as well as important riparian habitat for a wide variety of other species,” said Blake Henning, RMEF vice president of Lands and Conservation. “It also permanently protects the land, improves landscape connectivity for wildlife and both creates and improves public access for hunters, hikers, and others to enjoy it.”

The foundation has worked with the BLM, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, and private land owners to add more than 3,250 acres, or roughly 10 percent of its total, to the Tex Creek WMA.