Mule deer population estimates rising

Representatives from the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (Game & Fish) gave their annual report on the Platte Valley Mule Deer Initiative (PVMDI) Thursday night at the Saratoga Town Hall.

Rick King, the Regional Wildlife Supervisor with the Game and Fish Laramie Regional office, said 2016 will be a big year as the third year of the limited quota ends in 2015 and the Game & Fish will have a bigger effort to find out what hunters think of the limited quota.

The PVMDI was established in 2011 to increase public involvement in the management direction of the Platte Valley mule deer herd.

Interested stakeholders developed a management plan in 2012 and the annual report is used to update the public on the plan.

Katie Cheesbrough, Saratoga Terrestrial Habitat Biologist with the Game & Fish, discussed the habitat improvements made for the mule deer over the past year. Game and Fish has collaborated with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Saratoga-Encampment-Rawlins Conservation District (SERCD).

Cheesbrough works with the Platte Valley Habitat Partnership (PVHP) and she has been involved with initiating large scale landscape habitat in the Valley to benefit mule deer.

The efforts, over the past year, have included 8,140 acres of aspen, shrub and riparian enhancements, 22 miles of wildlife-friendly fence conversions, 10 water developments and 30 acres of riparian exclosures.

The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission committed $500,000 to the PVHP for large scale habitat. In 2014, PVHP used around $95,000 of that money to attract more than $600,000 in funding partners including Wyoming Wildlife Natural Resource Trust, BLM, Bowhunters of Wyoming, Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative, Wyoming Governor’s Big Game License Collation, Forest Service, Water for Wildlife, Mule Deer Foundation, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Wyoming Game & Fish, Mulee Fanatics Foundation and the SERCD.

With these funds, PVHP was able to start working on the first round of projects.

BLM and SERCD began a large-scale fence conversion in 2014. They completed 13 miles of fence conversion and two spring developments, all of which were located in high-density mule deer use.

In 2015, the plan is to finish 17 miles of fence and six spring developments.

The Forest Service completed the French Creek fence project, which included converting one mile of hazardous fence to wildlife-friendly fence. Cheesbrough said this area is also highly used by mule deer.

Burn units were established in 2014 on the ZN Ranch for prescribed burns in 2014. Because of the exceptional fall moisture PVHP was unable to complete the burns.

PVHP will attempt the burns this spring.

The Big Creek projects included aspen enhancements, spike herbicide treatments and 200 acres of aeration and seeding.

The second round of PVHP enhancements were approved in November of 2014 and will include Forest Service noxious weed improvement, which are in mule deer stopovers. Other enhancements include SERCD’s conversion fence work, habitat treatments and cheat-grass treatments.

The projects include 1,123 acres of aspen, shrub and riparian enhancements, four miles of fence conversion and 2,000 acres of weed treatments, 10 acres of irrigation improvements and 10 miles of road reclamation.

PVHP identified travel management issues and the Brush Creek Hayden Forest Service has mitigated the roads. The roads identified were hampering wildlife crossings.

The funding approved for these projects is around $85,000, Cheesbrough said.

Reports from other agencies included predator management presented by Corey Class, Game & Fish Wildlife Management Coordinator, coyote removal by Josh Peterson with the Carbon County Predator Management Board and population management by Game & Fish Wildlife Biologist Will Schultz.

Schultz explained that according to surveys conducted by Game & Fish, harvest success has improved to 57 percent and hunter satisfaction has increased to 62 percent.

Schultz said the Game & Fish estimates there are now 10,000 to 11,000 mule deer in the Platte Valley Mule Deer herd.