Kay Lynn Nield & Slim Clark
Nield Ranch & Slim Ranch
Wildlife & Conservation
The ranches together manage crucial habitat for Sublette mule deer, elk, moose, and aquatic habitat for Snake River cutthroat trout in the Salt and Greys River watersheds. Parcels associated with this project exist within a variety of priority areas for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD). Clear conservation goals include the improvement of sensitive aquatic and riparian habitats, improved habitat in the Sublette mule deer migration corridor, and reduced livestock loss to predators.
Goals
Many anticipated measurable outcomes of this virtual fence project include (but are not limited to) over 30 miles of improved riparian management, 18,000 acres of improved rotational grazing, 10 days saved at livestock roundup, excluding livestock access to sensitive or research areas with the grazing, reduced physical fencing, and improved livestock management around wildfire, timber harvests and recreation on United States Forest Service (USFS) lands, and protection of other sensitive plant communities identified by the USFS.
Ranch
D Milliron Cattle Company and Slim Ranch, operate near Star Valley Wyoming with 560 head of cattle enrolled in the Virtual Fence Conservation Partnership. Nield and Clark do cooperative monitoring with the USFS, Trout Unlimited, and the Wyoming Fish and Game Department.
Project Collaborators
Partnership Journal
Partner since May 2026 · 2 entries
May 5, 2026
A large group of collaborators visited the forest allotment for Nield and Clark’s virtual fence (VF) project on May 5, 2026 near Star Valley Wyoming. This site visit was conducted to support the development of a conservation monitoring plan as well as to communicate the allotment's current monitoring and management among stakeholders. Throughout the morning, we discussed several possible options for accomplishing conservation and operational goals through the use of VF. We also toured Steer creek, which is prime spawning habitat for native cutthroat trout. The USFS, TU, and WGFD are all involved in stream restoration projects on Steer Creek to help aid in improving trout habitat and increase their population numbers. We also toured a section of Steer Creek that has had 20 beaver dam analogs (BDAs) installed to help lower flow rates and filter sediment to improve trout habitat downstream. Nield and Clark would like to use VF to improve their rotational grazing management plan and to limit cattle access to sensitive trout habitat and riparian areas.
June 30, 2026
RCF Participated in cooperative monitoring with the USFS on the Little Greys River allotment. We monitored riparian health using green lines and collected vegetation data using photo points, line point intercept (LPI), and ocular observations along a 100 ft transect.