(Lander, WY) – Aspen restoration work will begin next week in the Fossil Hill/Townsend Creek areas above Lander.
This is a part of a ten-year project in the South Pass Area that started in 2015 with a primary focus of restoring aspen stands. The work is being done to improve mule deer habitat, especially transitional and fawn-rearing habitats. Previous year’s treatments have resulted in healthy and robust aspen regrowth as expected. Healthy aspen stands increase the availability and diversity of forbs and grasses mule deer use early in the spring to help nourish lactating does and increase fawn survival.
“For this project to be successful, the treatment needs to take place when the aspen trees are losing their leaves during the fall,” said Amy Anderson, Lander habitat biologist. “This will best ensure a vigorous regrowth of aspen in the next few years,” she said.
The work encompasses approximately 75 acres on the Shoshone National Forest and should take about 10 days to complete. Recreationists and campers in the area may hear foresters working from sun-up into the afternoon of each day.
For more information or questions, please call the Lander Regional Office at 307-332-2688.
