The Owl Creek elk herd, with 7,500–8,500 wintering elk, inhabits the northwest corner of the Wind River Reservation, traversing habitats along the Absaroka Range and the Owl Creek Mountains (fig. 36). The herd contains resident and migratory elk; migrants travel an average 10.7 mi (17.2 km) one way. Elevations range from 6,000 ft (1,829 m) at Wind River near Crowheart to 12,200 ft (3,700 m) in the Absaroka Range, and summits in the Owl Creek Mountains reach 8,000–9,800 ft (2,438–2,987 m). Habitats range from sage and desert scrub in the lowlands surrounding the Wind River Range to upland meadows, aspen groves, Pinus contorta (lodgepole pine) forests, and alpine tundra. When on the Wind River Reservation, the elk are under the sovereignty of the Eastern Shoshone Tribe and Northern Arapaho Tribe of the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming. During spring migration, some of the elk cross the East Fork Wind River to FS lands. Other migrations are entirely in the reservation, including the upper tributaries near Washakie Needles, or the Owl Creek Mountains. Residents in the herd also use the Owl Creek Mountains, particularly the portion east of Blondy Pass. Many areas contain significant evidence of past hunting and ceremonial activity, and according to Shoshone ethnography, elk were significant game acquisition in the prereservation era of the 1800s (Shimkin, 1947). This elk herd remains culturally and economically valuable to Tribal members who sustainably harvest elk under a game code established in 1984 (Nickerson, 2019; Public Law 86-634m 86th Congress, H.R. 4386). Habitats are virtually free of human disturbance and development aside from Tribal member livestock grazing and a few Tribal-owned and operated oilfields in the desert winter range. Threats to habitat include drought and climate change or biological invasions of nonnative cheat grass and feral horses contributing to poor range conditions. In 2022, Tribes started working in partnership with the Wind River Agency of Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Wyoming Legislature, Wyoming Livestock Board, and the Wild Sheep Foundation to reduce the feral horse population and design projects to restore habitats to greater productivity (Kikonow, 2023). These mapping layers show the location of the Migration routes for Elk (Cervus canadensis) in the Owl Creek population in Wind River Reservation. They were developed from 77 migration sequences collected from a sample size of 16 animals comprising GPS locations collected every 1 hour.