Virtual Fencing Grants Seek To Bolster Wildlife Corridors

By Jenna McMurtry

Move over barbed wire and electric fences. A “friendlier fence” to wildlife is gaining footing in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

For the second year in a row, the Bozeman-based think tank Property and Environment Research Center has awarded grants to ranches in the region to make virtual fences more accessible.

“It allows a farmer or a rancher to better and more precisely manage their livestock without the need for physical fences on the landscape,” said Travis Bramer, the organization’s director of conservation.

Across Wyoming and Idaho, eight ranches have received grants to purchase and maintain the costly equipment that’s altering the ranching industry. This year, Bramer’s nonprofit partnered with the Ricketts Conservation Foundation, which contributed a third of the $600,000 fund.