The money also has gone toward collaring and tracking more than 70 pronghorn, which is one of the largest scale efforts that Game and Fish has undertaken, Gagnon said. The data will be examined to see how pronghorn are responding to recent fence projects and compared to what has already been collected from 1992 to 2012, he said.

Most of the pronghorn migration information won’t be available until the collars fall of the animals and are collected about two and a half years from now. But about seven animals are wearing collars with more advanced tracking technology that have already produced data showing an increase in pronghorn movement where fences have been moved or modified.

Continuing to watch where the pronghorn are being blockaded by fences will be useful in figuring where work should happen next, Gagnon said.

“There are so many fences out there, we have to use a data-driven approach with the resources we have,” he said.

The data will also be used to plan future grassland restoration along pronghorn migration routes. Maintaining and re-creating open grassy areas is important because grasses, forbs, sagebrush and other prairie plants are mainstays of the pronghorn diet while the wide open spaces allow the ungulates to spot and outrun predators.