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To protect wildlife on their winter range, the majority of Wyoming Game and Fish Department wildlife habitat management areas close or have restrictions for the winter annually. Many WHMAs are closing to human presence — or already have — for the season.
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,” said Ray Bredehoft, Game and Fish habitat and access branch chief. “Closures also reduce the human and recreational impacts to the forage, which supports the wildlife on their winter ranges.”
The closures are for any human presence unless otherwise noted.