Ten miles of roads on the Fernan Ranger District were closed over the summer to make life easier for elk.

The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation contributed $3,325 of the roughly $12,000 used to close the roads. The roads are located above the Beauty Creek campground, in the Mineral Ridge area southeast of Coeur d’Alene.

It is the first time a private group has donated money to close roads on the Fernan District, said Ron Deon, a biological technician.

The project effectively provides another 1,500 acres of automobile-free ground to elk, the Forest Service said. That’s because elk stay as much as a half-mile away from either side of an active road.

Elk will return to roads that are closed to vehicles, the Forest Service said.

The roads were built in the early 1980s for the Varnum Creek timber sale. Last summer, the Forest Service tore up the entrances of the roads to prevent motor vehicle access.

Culverts were removed from some of the roads to cut down on the amount of sediment going to trout streams.

, DataTimes