Balancing big game and private land conflicts

The vast majority of Idahoans enjoy and appreciate wildlife, and that includes landowners who enjoy elk and deer on their property, even if they cause some inconveniences, or eat some of their crops. But when that inconvenience starts to affect their financial stability, Fish and Game has to take action. 

Wildlife doesn't recognize property boundaries, and many of Idaho’s big game herds spend at least part of their year on private lands, often during winter when higher elevations are covered by snow, or during seasonal migrations. Fish and Game tries to maintain landowner support for wildlife on private lands in a variety of ways, both nonlethal and lethal, preferably nonlethal. 

The priority is to prevent conflicts on private lands from occurring in the first place, and the best way to avoid damage is often to ensure public lands can support abundant big game herds. Fish and Game’s overarching philosophy is to manage wildlife populations that can be supported by natural habitat, except in unique and emergency situations. 

Fish and Game manages over 400,000 acres of habitat on its wildlife management areas, but that’s less than one percent of Idaho’s public lands. The agency also partners with federal, state, and other land managers to improve, protect, and maintain healthy wildlife habitat on far more acreage. 

For example, after large wildfires in Southwest Idaho in summer 2024, Fish and Game worked with public land managers to immediately plant beneficial forage plants so migrating deer and elk would have food during winter and be less attracted to nearby agriculture lands. 

To keep wildlife on wildlands and out of crops, Fish and Game staff in each region has numerous programs that work with landowners to troubleshoot problems caused by big game animals. They have a variety of methods at their disposal to build short-term or long-term solutions. However, the work is never really done, because what attracts one herd, another herd will also find attractive.