Red Lodge Clearinghouse

 The recent release of research findings from the fifth year of vital studies of mule deer use of the Mesa on the Pinedale Anticline has again produced the customary “spin-doctoring” that has characterized the debate over Wyoming’s wildlife affected by energy development. Headlines like “Mesa Herd Stabilizes” do a disservice to both deer and the interests of Wyoming deer hunters. The facts are that 1) there are fewer than half the deer using the Mesa in winter than there were five years ago and 2) there is no evidence that any meaningful number of those deer have “just gone elsewhere” as suggested by BLM in 2005. 3) New data show that only 2 percent may have emigrated from the Mesa, but that 27 percent of the total reduction in use can be attributed to energy development activities. These findings confirm that while many other factors affect deer, energy development activity is an important contributor to the reduction in use of the Mesa by deer.

But let’s get even more to the point. We just experienced a tough deer season in Western Wyoming. Northern Wyoming Range and Hoback Basin deer hunters had trouble funding any deer, let alone good bucks. The common question at check stations and in the mountains was “Where are the deer?” Movement data on deer that winter on the Mesa shows that many of them move into the Northern Wyoming Range and Hoback Basin. Since there were many fewer deer in that segment of the Sublette Deer Herd on the Mesa in winter, should it surprise us that the quality of deer hunting in those connected areas has declined sharply?

The “stabilization” claim is based on the fact that deer on the Mesa have numbered about 2,800 for two years, and didn’t decline further-yet . Five years ago, there were almost 6,000 - should we be happy with half a deer herd? Of greater significance is that new data show reduced reproductive success in the Mesa herd versus neighboring herds. This adds up to bad news for the future of this deer herd, those who love to hunt deer in the Wyoming Range and Hoback Basin, and those communities who rely on the economic benefits from hunting.

Drought, predators, houses, roads and other factors that influence these deer have been a part of the mule deer world for a long time, but during previous drought and periodic severe winters, Mesa deer have been able to use the Mesa and adjacent habitat to cope with winter snows, wind, and extreme cold. Now they cannot do that. What is new and not natural is the high level of human disturbance and change in the landscape brought on by energy development. The real issue is not arguing over which influence is worse than the other, but given the likelihood of periodic harsh Wyoming winters, can these deer still survive and recover?

We may well get an answer soon. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department warned us this year that even with moderate winter, current poor forage conditions make a die-off likely, so protections from winter disturbance are extremely important . Mule deer are at a crossroads where they are clearly in trouble under heavy development pressure.

Recently, the BLM had to withdraw proposals for leases near Merna because they had not evaluated their importance to Mesa deer. There has been an uprising of hunters and outfitters opposing further development in the Wyoming Range. When petitioned last spring by the Pinedale Anticline Working Group to adopt goals of no further reduction in this herd, BLM refused. All that was proposed was to get BLM, Wyoming Department of Game and Fish, industry, and other interested publics together to consider what might be done differently to ease the pressure on this herd. BLM promised instead to “work with the Game and Fish Department to find ways to assist the herd” . Last month, the BLM released a draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for Pinedale Anticline based on a proposal from industry that will include a major increase in activity on parts of the Mesa in winter. This is apparently in trade for less activity elsewhere. Hunters and others must examine this proposal carefully - is more winter drilling the best we can expect from the key Federal management agency?

This bad scenario for mule deer is being reenacted elsewhere, such as the Atlantic Rim in south-central Wyoming, and Piceance Basin and Roan Plateau in Colorado, and Book Cliffs in Utah and Colorado. No one has the ability to evaluate the effects on mule deer of tens of thousands of well sites in the Powder River Basin in Montana and Wyoming. This fast pace of development is cutting at the very heart of some of the most valued mule deer locations in the Northern Rockies and none of our agencies are fully taking care of our interests. Resident and nonresident hunter dollars are the biggest support base for Wyoming wildlife programs. It is time to quit being satisfied with “half a deer herd” . Hunters should demand nothing less than action from government and industry to arrest the decline of the “stabilized” Mesa herd and assure that the same decline does not happen in other key mule deer herds. Their obligation to us as citizens is to truly balance energy development and maintenance of deer herds.

Partners in the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (TRCP) have developed a set of principles to assist wildlife through the onslaught of energy development. They may be viewed at www.trcp.org. We welcome partnership with hunters, anglers, organizations, businesses and everyone else who cares about the future of mule deer and other wildlife affected by energy development. We say it is not being “done right” - mule deer are a prime example and half a deer herd is not acceptable.

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Name

Email

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (Registered users only)

I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment