Park County landowners, residents, NGO organizations, and local government have united to tackle wildlife-friendly fencing in the area. This is the first of its kind in the state.
Fencing in the West has been an issue for ages. We need fences to keep livestock in but wildlife needs to be able to migrate, and fences can hinder that.
Tony Mong, Cody's Wyoming Game and Fish wildlife biologist, was trying to figure out a solution to this in Park County and realized most groups wanted to figure out a solution to this problem.
"It kind of made sense to bring everybody together and see if we could be more efficient and get more done together," said Mong.
This started the Absaroka Fence Initiative. Mong is now the chair of the initiative. The group hopes to figure out the fencing problem by using data to see where the actual problems arise.
"So rather than taking a kind of a shotgun approach to landscape and trying to do sensors all over the place, we're trying to use data to drive when we do projects to make the biggest difference in the Cody area," said Mong.
Mong said he hopes the community will participate in their efforts as well.
"We're hoping not only to do great work around here but also maybe create a process or show people how these fence initiatives can start and how much work can actually get done when we all kind of come together," said Mong.
