WHMAs begin closing for the winter season

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department has announced that they will begin shutting down Wildlife Habitat Management Areas for the winter season. 

Many of the Game and Fish Department WHMAs are closing to human presence — or already have — for the season to provide protections for wildlife on their winter ranges. The move is routine as a majority of WHMAs close or have restrictions for the winter annually. 

Protecting crucial habitat for wildlife is one of the main reasons the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission invests in land throughout Wyoming. WHMAs provide a refuge for big game that must conserve energy and rely on fat stores to survive the coldest months of the year. 

“Seasonal closures are essential for minimizing stress-causing disturbances to wintering deer, elk, bighorn sheep and other wildlife,” Game and Fish Habitat and Access Branch Chief Ray Bredehoft said. “Closures also reduce the human and recreational impacts to the forage, which supports the wildlife on their winter ranges.”  

Find a full schedule of closures by clicking here.