Youth trap shooters help build Elkhorn Wildlife Area fencing

In North Powder, youth trap shooters spent a Sunday turning a conservation project into a hands-on workday at Elkhorn Wildlife Area. They helped the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife install 3,500 feet of buck-and-pole fencing around an aspen stand, a closure meant to give young trees room to regenerate and spread.

Volunteers came from the Union High School trap team, La Grande High School trap team, Eastern Oregon University and the Union and Wallowa County Chapter of the Oregon Hunters Association. ODFW supplied the materials, breakfast and a barbecue lunch, while the local hunters association reimbursed the shooters by donating money to their individual teams. Morgan Olson, head of the Union-Wallowa OHA chapter, said youth trap shooting teams have become popular locally at both the high school and collegiate levels, with several members already competing at the state and national level. He called the project a clear example of hunters, shooters and ODFW working together to improve habitat for wildlife.

The fence matters because aspen stands are a key habitat feature in the Elkhorn area, and the Blue Mountains of northeast Oregon have seen those stands shrink into small, scattered remnants over time. U.S. Forest Service research has tied that decline to fire suppression and browsing pressure from large ungulates, and it notes that buck-and-pole exclosures have been used in northeast Oregon since the late 1980s to protect aspen from browsing. At Elkhorn, the new closure is intended to keep deer and elk from feeding on the young growth long enough for the stand to recover.

ODFW says Elkhorn Wildlife Area is best known for Rocky Mountain elk and mule deer that use the area during winter. To support those herds, the agency operates 10 feeding sites that provide winter feed for about 1,400 elk and 800 deer. The wildlife area is one of 20 managed by ODFW statewide, and visitors generally need a wildlife area parking permit, which costs $10 for a day or $30 for a year.

The work site is near Pilcher Creek Reservoir, looking straight north, and ODFW says the nearby Anthony Creek viewing site is about eight miles west of I-84 on North Powder River Lane, where about 150 elk can be seen on a given day. The area also allows hiking, horseback riding, mountain biking and camping at the Anthony Creek site on the North Powder tract, where a primitive first-come, first-served campground, horse corrals, picnic tables and accessible portable restrooms are available. Elkhorn Wildlife Area Manager Dan Marvin already has more volunteer projects lined up, keeping the conservation work moving beyond a single fence line.