The Idaho Fish and Game Commission recently approved land deals that will expand two wildlife management areas near Boise and Idaho Falls and provide habitat for numerous species, as well as provide additional land for hunting.
Commissioners approved the purchase of a total 1,552 acres of land about 20 miles east of Idaho Falls that will be added to the Tex Creek Wildlife Area. The two properties consist of relatively natural habitat of sagebrush, riparian areas, forested slopes and aspen stands.
Habitat found on the properties provides benefits to numerous game and nongame species. Elk, mule deer and moose all use the property. In the late fall, numerous elk transition through the property to winter habitats, and some elk also winter on the properties. Aspen stands also provide quality fawning habitat for mule deer.
The purchase price for the two properties is $1.96 million, and will be paid for using Bonneville Power Administration mitigation funds. Through a settlement deal between the state and BPA, Fish and Game receives federal mitigation funding for impacts to fish and wildlife associated with the Columbia River Power System.
Commissioners also approved the purchase of a 232 acre parcel of native grass and shrub communities about 10 miles northeast of Boise, adjacent to the Boise River Wildlife Management Area.
The area provides habitat for elk and mule deer, and both species are found in the area year round. This parcel connects higher elevation forest habitat and lower elevation shrub-steppe habitat in the Warm Springs watershed, and the property is important in helping maintain the migration of mule deer to and from the WMA’s winter range habitats.
The cost of the property is $350,000, which will be paid using $287,800 in federal Pittman Robertson funds and the sale of Fish and Game property to the Forest Service. The remaining $62,200 in funds will come from money derived from the sale of Idaho hunting and fishing licenses.
(Video source: Idaho Department of Fish and Game)