Hardware Wildlife Management Area is owned by the

State of Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its we ...

and managed by the

Utah Division of Wildlife Resources The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources is part of the Utah Department of Natural Resources for the state of Utah in the United States. The mission of the Division of Wildlife Resources is to serve the people of Utah as trustee and guardian of ...

. It is located in the Blacksmith Fork Canyon, about east of

Hyrum, Utah Hyrum is a city in Cache County, Utah, United States. The population was 7,609 at the 2010 census, with an estimated population of 8,403 in 2018. It is included in the Logan, Utah–Idaho (partial) Metropolitan Statistical Area. Geography Hyrum ...

Rocky Mountain elk The Rocky Mountain elk (''Cervus canadensis nelsoni'') is a subspecies of elk found in the Rocky Mountains and adjacent ranges of Western North America. Habitat The winter ranges are most common in open forests and floodplain marshes in the l ...

are fed here through the winter to prevent them from coming to inhabited areas further down the canyon in search of food. Horse-drawn sleigh rides and a visitor center are offered from mid December to February.

History

Hardware Wildlife Management Area (WMA) is owned by the State of Utah and managed by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. Neighboring properties are the National Forest, although the actual WMA is not part of the National Forest. Hardware WMA is not a working ranch, it is a WMA set aside primarily for big game animals such as elk, moose and deer but it is also home to many other species. Habitat and wildlife management along with education are the primary focus of management at HWWMA. The elk that visit Hardware WMA are wild elk, they come and go as they please, and are not fenced, farmed or ranched. Cattle and sheep are allowed to graze on the WMA through a competitive contracting process. These animals are limited to certain areas of the WMA and certain time frames to best assist in the habitat management of the WMA. The state of Utah purchased the ranch in 1946 from the Ernst Lorentz Petersen family estate, who immigrated from Denmark in the 1860s Box Elder Hardware Company, using money from the Wildlife Restoration Act. The original size of the ranch was , but acquisitions by the state enlarged it to about . During the first year only 120

Rocky Mountain Elk The Rocky Mountain elk (''Cervus canadensis nelsoni'') is a subspecies of elk found in the Rocky Mountains and adjacent ranges of Western North America. Habitat The winter ranges are most common in open forests and floodplain marshes in the l ...

were fed over the winter, but in 2008 that number is between 500 and 600.

References

External links

* Ranches in Utah Buildings and structures in Cache County, Utah Tourist attractions in Cache County, Utah Wasatch-Cache National Forest Protected areas established in 1946 {{Utah-protected-area-stub