History of Georgetown Summit WMA
History
In 1991, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF) purchased 1,656 acres in partnership with Idaho Fish and Game to protect this property for elk and deer habitat. The RMEF sold 749 acres to the department and leased the remaining 907 acres to the department for 20 years.
With the acquisition of the property, the department acquired a 50% interest in the Georgetown Grazing Association. The grazing association maintained grazing rights at that time on 1,670 acres of adjacent state-owned land administered by Idaho Department of Lands (IDL). The grazing association eventually dissolved and IDL lease was combined with a separate adjacent grazing lease. Idaho Fish and Game now leases 1,830 acres from IDL as a Miscellaneous Lease.
In 1998, 24 acres was acquired from a neighbor; and in 2007, an additional 84 acres bordering the Bear River was acquired from the same neighbor.
In 2008, the department entered into a five-year lease with a different neighbor on 760 acres bordering the west boundary of the Georgetown Summit WMA. The lease is currently being renewed.
In 2012, the acreage that had been originally leased from RMEF was purchased.
The WMA property lies in two parcels separated by U.S. Highway 30. The north parcel is adjoined on the north and east by the Caribou-Targhee National Forest.
The area on Georgetown Summit has long been a winter range for big game. Approximately 200 elk and 50 mule deer winter in the immediate vicinity of the WMA. For many years, elk caused depredation problems on stored crops for an adjacent rancher. In recent years, the department has cooperated with neighbors to address occasional problems with standing crops. Current farming agreements involve land use trades benefitting wildlife use and neighboring farming operations.
Georgetown Summit WMA is managed along with three other WMAs by the Regional Wildlife Biologist assigned to the East Habitat. The habitat management program is focused primarily on vegetation management in order to carry out the mission of enhancing elk and mule deer winter range, sharp-tailed grouse habitat and providing quality habitat for other wildlife and fish.
At the time of acquisition, a cabin was located on the north portion of the WMA in the Jones Creek drainage. This site also had a small, corrugated metal shed and other outbuildings. A developed spring provided water for the cabin and stock watering troughs just downstream. The water development now supplies a stock pond serving as a wildlife water source. A wooden barn and corral were located on a parcel near the Bear River. None of the structures proved to be of use to department operations and were in fact safety liabilities. All have been removed in recent years.
A number of fence lines were present on the area when acquired, though many did not coincide with property boundaries. Most were in poor repair. Existing fences have been improved, relocated or in some cases removed. In 1997 approximately two miles of additional fence was constructed between Georgetown Summit WMA and the private lands to the south. In 2003 fences bordering U.S. Highway 30 were replaced by Idaho Department of Transportation during a road widening project. Approximately one mile of fencing along the south boundary of the WMA is scheduled to be replaced in 2014.
An abandoned radio tower pad exists on North Hill with a trail and power line leading up to it. There are several other dirt/gravel roads on Georgetown Summit WMA, some of which provide access to the Caribou-Targhee National Forest in Big Canyon and Jones Canyon. A dirt track also provides access along a transmission line right-of-way which crosses the northern parcel.
Vegetation treatments to date have included aerial fertilization, sponsored by RMEF, and an 80- acre prescribed burn conducted with the cooperation of Caribou-Targhee National Forest and IDL. Other vegetation treatments will also be considered. Aspen management may occur to stimulate new growth of aspen as well the associated shrub species and understory. Cooperative farming agreements with a neighboring landowner from 1991 through 2007 were marginally successful in providing forage and cover for wildlife, but failed to preclude depredation claims. In 2012 an agreement with a new landowner was initiated to address weed control, vegetation management, and big game use. The new arrangement is proving to be more successful in benefitting the neighboring farming operation and wildlife habitat concerns.
Control of livestock trespass on the Georgetown Summit WMA has been necessary to manage forage effectively. The majority of the Georgetown Summit WMA has not been grazed by livestock since 1992, with the exception of a brief period of sheep grazing on 300 acres in 1997, and a more recent use trade on a portion of leased property to facilitate better management of riparian habitat along the Bear River.
Each year approximately 150 acres are monitored and treated for noxious weeds. Canada thistle, musk thistle, dyer’s woad, hounds tongue, black henbane, and leafy spurge are treated through chemical, mechanical, and biological control.