Wildlife living on Rattlesnake Mountain should have an easier time finding water, thanks to a recent collaborative effort.

The Bureau of Land Management, Wyoming Game and Fish Department and Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation partnered up to replace parts of some water guzzlers on the mountain last year.

“Partnerships like this are an essential component of the BLM’s mission to practice shared conservation stewardship on public land,” BLM officials said in a recent news release publicizing the project.

Lying west of Cody on the eastern edge of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, Rattlesnake Mountain provides year-round habitat for wildlife — including elk, moose, mule deer, whitetail deer, black bear, grizzly bear, blue grouse and turkey. Although the mountain receives between 15 and 19 inches of precipitation each year, the lack of available surface water during the summer and fall makes it difficult for wildlife to utilize the high-quality habitat during the dry season, the BLM says.

In 1976, the BLM installed three large water catchment systems that held a combined 30,000 gallons of water and serviced approximately 18 square miles of habitat. However, after decades of use and freeze–thaw cycles, the water systems began to deteriorate. High winds took their toll on the catchment aprons and buried pipelines began to leak.

After assessing the condition of the systems in 2017, the BLM obtained funding and purchased materials in 2018, with support from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. The BLM installed the new water catchment systems last summer, working side-by-side with the Game and Fish.

The team used a helicopter to sling the 27-foot, 800-pound catchment aprons to their respective locations in the rugged terrain. Once the seven aprons were in place, the sides were buried in trenches, the seams were tarred together, and rock was laid on the seams and across the aprons to keep them in place during strong winds. The existing buried tanks, still in good condition, remained in place. To withstand freezing events, the modified design used more durable components than the original design, including welded HDPE pipe, brass fittings and tire watering tanks. Wildlife-friendly exclosure fences around the aprons were repaired and, finally, wildlife escape ramps were installed in the tire tanks.

Within the first 45 days that the guzzlers were turned on, game cameras documented a wide variety of wildlife visiting them, the BLM said — including elk, mule deer, whitetail deer, moose, red fox, grizzly bear and turkey.