Good neighbors make good habitat

Mature brush fields that were once tangled mazes reaching as high as 30 feet have been thinned by hand this summer to better tailor them to the needs of elk and other species of wildlife.

The work on about 400 acres of federal land in the lower Selway River drainage is being managed by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game in partnership with the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest.

“It’s going to provide abundant forage opportunities and not just immediately. It will be years of forage opportunity as we move this mosaic across the landscape,” said Tara Ball, a regional wildlife biologist for Fish and Game at Lewiston. “It’s going to open up the canopy and allow (elk) to use the site more.”

The work, performed by contractors under the supervision of the department and according to federal standards approved by the forest, is designed to rejuvenate otherwise old and decadent deciduous brush and shrubs. The openings will allow more light to hit the forest floor. That, when combined with the type of late summer and fall rain that has already started, will prompt grass and forbs to spring up in the area and provide food at a critical time for elk to continue to put on fat that will help them survive the winter. In the spring, the brush that has been thinned to a standard of about 2 feet high will put on new succulent growth that elk seek.

“What we really like about this project — where it’s located, it’s not so much in the front country,” Ball said. “There is not a ton of available roads in the area, so it’s going to have more benefits for elk as far as vulnerability, and it’s really good whitetail deer country, too.”

Part of the work includes trail clearing so contractors can access the sites. Another element is the creation of contoured game trails through the brush fields that make it easier for animals to use them.

The project will continue over the next several years and eventually total 3,000 acres spread out across a vast landscape between Fenn and Glover creeks.

Ball said it’s just one example of the kind of work her agency and the Forest Service have partnered on because of the benefits it will provide to fish and wildlife. Others include projects designed to reduce fire intensity by thinning dense forests or using prescribed fire to create or sustain young and middle age forests that benefit elk and other wildlife

“We have a bunch of fuel reduction and wildlife habitat improvement work and thinning projects going on all across the forest — mastication on Palouse Ranger District, fuel work on the Moose Creek and Salmon River ranger districts,” Ball said. “We have helped with project planning in the (National Environmental Policy Act) stages, helped with analysis to move projects forward that are going to have benefits for wildlife.”

Aging brush fields and the succession of young open forests to more mature and closed canopy stands have been identified as some of the main problems that led to a decades-long slide in elk populations across much of the upper Clearwater River Basin. Most of that land there is managed by the federal government. In the past, Fish and Game has only been able to urge the Forest Service to implement the types of projects that can help elk. But four years ago, the state and federal agencies signed a Good Neighbor Authority agreement, which allows the federal agency, that often faces work backlogs and understaffing, to get help from its neighbors.

Projects still must go through federal approval processes that can be exhausting but agencies like Fish and Game can help with that work and, by assisting with contract supervision, help make sure it gets implemented.

“Our partnership with Fish and Game has been instrumental to increasing the pace and scale of habitat improvement and fuels reduction to mitigate the risk of catastrophic wildfires across our forests,” said Molly Ryan, acting supervisor on the Nez Perce-Clearwater Forest, in a news release. “This recent agreement enables us to continue work that tremendously benefits the people of North-Central Idaho, especially the hunters and anglers who cherish its landscapes and wildlife.”

The Nez Perce-Clearwater Forest also has good neighbor agreements with the Idaho Department of Land, Nez Perce Tribe and Idaho County.

Barker may be contacted at ebarker@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2273.