Restoring Elk Country — New Mexico's Sierra Ladrones Wildlife Water Development

Описание: Water is the lifeblood of wildlife populations.

Where it is lacking, birds and animals suffer.

In 2023 and 2024, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation supplied funding alongside other partners to greatly upgrade water availability on land managed by the Bureau of Land Management within New Mexico’s Sierra Ladrone Mountains.

Workers replaced a dilapidated wildlife water development in central New Mexico by flying in two 1,800-gallon storage tanks, with built-in drinkers.

The project also includes a 1,000-square-foot metal water catchment system that is four times larger than traditional catchments.

And those storage tanks can hold double the amount of precipitation of what was there before.

The new setup is made of materials less susceptible to deterioration, meaning less maintenance going forward and a much longer lifespan.

Small wildlife can access the water without drowning thanks to a built-in escape ramp.

Not only is the water system a boon for large elk numbers in the region but also for bighorn sheep, mule deer, black bears, pronghorn antelope and nongame species.

On top of that, it lies within a wildlife migration corridor subject to a series of recent habitat enhancement projects that helped dramatically boost bighorn sheep numbers leading to sustainable hunting.

Restoring elk country is core to RMEF’s mission of ensuring the future of elk, other wildlife, their habitat and our hunting heritage.

Since 1984, RMEF helped conserve or enhance more than 9.1 million acres of wildlife habitat.