Volunteers un-fencing in the West

The Saratoga Encampment Rawlins Conservation District (SERCD), Wyoming Game & Fish, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and volunteers spent last Saturday removing old fence near Bennett Peak for their 3rd Annual Platte Valley Volunteer Day.

The removal has been a long time coming, according to Biff Burton, Game Warden for Wyoming Game and Fish.

"This fence has been a concern for a number of years - in fact, as long as I've lived here," Burton stated.

According to Joe Parsons, Supervisory Resource Specialist for SERCD, the fence was constructed to divide BLM and private landowners property. However, after the first fence was constructed, it was soon realized that it was not correctly placed. Therefore, a secondary fence was constructed, close to the original fence. The original fence was never taken down - posing a real hazard for wildlife in a heavily used corridor.

Burton explained how important this corridor is for wildlife and how the two fences further impede on habitat migration.

"A couple thousand deer come out of not just the Snowy Range, but North Park, Colo. to our south and they transition through here - we call it transition range - so they spend part of their migration period moving through here and the habitat is vitally important as they go... Deer learn to avoid places like this, and we don't want them to avoid places like this. We want them to use their preferred routes."

There were approximately 14 in attendance, set up with gloves and wire cutters to pull out the barbed wire that had buried itself in dense sagebrush and soil for the last couple decades. Although well prepared, nothing could have prevented volunteers' jeans being pulled by barbed wire and scratches on arms. However, in the end, it was well worth it - as a significant amount of ground was covered.

According to Parsons, two-thirds of the fence that needed to be removed, was done during the six-hour time frame. About a mile of fencing was removed.

Burton felt that the work completed was directly impacting wildlife migration and was thankful for the volunteers that spent their Saturdays at the event.

"Fences are a direct way to save deer's lives," said Burton. "You can save a deer's life by getting these old unnecessary fences out of the way that they need to cross. We should all feel good about doing things that save a deer's life and probably many deer's lives over the years."