Friday, September 05, 2008

Antelope migration project underway A five-year project is under way to improve the pronghorn migration route from Sublette County to Grand Teton National Park. An inventory of 100 miles of fencing along the route was completed last month. The inventory looked at the location, type and condition of fences on 150 properties in the 33 miles from the Bridger-Teton National Forest boundary south to Trapper's Point, north of Pinedale. The Green River Valley Land Trust in Pinedale is organizing the fencing project. It seeks to improve 500 miles of fence over the next five years to make it easier for antelope and other wildlife to cross. For thousands of years, antelope have traveled the 350-mile route from their summer range in what is now Grand Teton National Park to winter range as far south as Rock Springs. Ryan said improvements for the entire 500 miles of fence will cost an estimated $10.7 million. U.S. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne announced a $1 million grant for the fencing project this summer. The money is coming from the Jonah Interagency Mitigation and Reclamation Office. The office, which is funded by the energy industry, was established to mitigate the effects of large-scale energy development in the upper Green River Basin....

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