More than one million dollars will be put to use in the Appalachian region to help conservation efforts for wildlife. The primary focus is on the Elk population. The one-point-four-five million dollars will be dispersed over two years. While $650,000 is coming from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, the rest comes from matching funds from organizations that submitted proposals. Those include Kentucky Fish and Wildlife and the U.S. Forest Service.
Steven Dobey is the eastern US conservation program director for the Foundation. He said they will be working on projects that will focus on plants.
“On reclaimed mine lands in eastern Kentucky, this will be work to remove or combat non-native, invasive plant species. Lot of these reclaimed mine lands are tremendous elk habitats, however there is an issue with non-native plants.”
Dobey said they will be working with Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Service to apply herbicide and coordinate controlled burns in the area. He said the funding will also go towards benefiting many species in the region.
“It’s a wide range of projects but they are going to have a lot of really great impact. Not just for elk, but deer, turkey, bears, migratory birds, a whole host of things.”
Dobey says the funding will help with projects in an area that includes eastern Kentucky, West Virginia, North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee. He says keeping the elk population healthy means more people will take part in the hunting seasons and spend more money in eastern Kentucky towns.
**In a sea of partisan news, WEKU is your source for public service, fact-based journalism. Monthly sustaining donors are the top source of funding for this growing nonprofit news organization. Please join others in your community who support WEKU by making your donation.
