Sterling Wildlife Management Area is cleaning up decadent vegetation

ABERDEEN, Idaho (KIFI) - The Sterling Wildlife Management Area is teaming up with Idaho Fish & Game and the Carter family are working together to clean up tons of decadent vegetation.

The present amount of vegetation that has decayed is hindering the Management Area from performing it's daily functions. It has become difficult for people or animals to walk or perform activities on areas with this decadent vegetation. Sterling is used for animals to breed and for people to hunt specific game.

Sterling Wildlife Management Area and Idaho Fish & Game together reached out to the Carter's to use their cattle for removing the decadent vegetation. They wanted the cattle to use target grazing. This method would allow the cattle to eat and stomp on the degenerate dead cat tails and bull rushes. Then, this would flatten the land and thus give way for people and animals to more easily access the land.

This process is also a win for the cattle who earn a free meal. During the winter, the alternative for cattle meals are hay which is much more expensive than this target grazing process.

"Our wildlife are coming out ahead." says Idaho Fish & Game Pocatello Biologist Maria Pacioretty. "They're winning with this type of habitat work. You know, our users are coming out ahead. You know, our access on the WMA is improving immensely because of this and our ranching communities coming out ahead from the partnerships that we're building here."

Although this process will help out The Sterling Wildlife Management Area greatly, it will only be able to help out one fourth of their land. Idaho Fish & Game says they will try to continue this process in future winters to reach more of their area.