Wildlife Fencing Protects Crops in Cortez From Deer and Elk

While access to land and water has long been a barrier for beginning farmers, it’s just as important to protect crops once they’re grown in Cortez—where hungry deer and elk commonly pose a threat to high-value crops and orchards. After a local resident donated a high tunnel—a protective greenhouse-like structure—to the Montezuma Land Conservancy to support year-round growing at Fozzie’s Farm, staff recognized a need to protect the plants growing inside it from marauding wildlife. LOR’s funding helps the Montezuma Land Conservancy solve this problem by installing a wildlife fence around the high tunnel as well as a soon-to-be-planted orchard, protecting the site from elk and deer damage and ensuring the produce grown there is viable for community consumption.