The Ed Carter Unit of northeastern Tennessee’s North Cumberland Wildlife Management Area is roughly 46,000 acres of forested mountains, interspersed with small tracts of reclaimed surface-mine lands. Six elk tags are currently issued for the unit’s three Elk Hunt Zones.
Several areas in the unit are overgrown with invasive trees and vegetation, choking out quality forage for elk. Over the past year, RMEF partnered with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) to remove these invasives from a 30-acre plot, creating a wildlife clearing that improves nutritional quality for elk and other wildlife, including white-tailed deer, turkeys, black bears and ruffed grouse.
To accomplish this project, the TWRA used RMEF grant funding to hire a private contractor to create a 30-acre wildlife clearing within the designated project area at Leach Mountain. Mechanical vegetation clearing began in early April 2025 and concluded in May 2025. Slash piles from the clearing were burned in July and August 2025.
On April 1, 2026, TWRA staff conducted a prescribed burn of roughly 63 acres throughout the Leach Mountain project area, including 19 acres within the newly created opening and 54 acres in an adjacent plot in the same area to control undesirable vegetation. The southern portion of the newly created clearing was converted into a wildlife food plot and will be planted in summer annuals such as cowpeas. The northern portion of the clearing and adjacent burn unit will be burned on a 2- to 3-year interval to control invasive vegetation and encourage native forage.