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Mule Deer Working Group

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Mule Deer
Working Group

Mule deer, Arizona. Photo Credit: George Andrejko

The establishment of the Mule Deer Working Group (MDWG) was approved by the WAFWA President and directors in 1997 to address concerns about the long-term decline in mule deer numbers. The working group’s members consist of state and provincial fish and wildlife agency personnel who have technical expertise and oversight of matters involving mule deer within their respective jurisdictions. The group reports directly to the WAFWA board of directors. Since the time of the MDWG’s inception, the group has been successfully addressing mule and black-tailed deer concerns shared among wildlife agencies in western North America. The working group’s approved Statement of Purpose, last revised January 2021:

  1. Develop and refine strategies to conserve black-tailed and mule deer populations and their habitat throughout western North America;
  2. Improve communication and collaboration among black-tailed and mule deer biologists throughout the West;
  3. Provide research and management information to stakeholders that fosters collaborative conservation;
  4. Provide a forum of experts to respond to information needs from wildlife and habitat management agency administration.
Black-tailed & Mule Deer Distribution

Slide A product of the Mule Deer Working Group. INFO Click Here Mule Deer Fact Sheets Slide 2024
Rangewide Status Report
Black-tailed & Mule Deer REPORTS Click Here Slide WALLMO AWARD AWARDS Click Here Slide What do you do when you find a deer fawn? VIDEO Click Here Slide Mule Deer Habitat Guidelines PUBLICATIONS Click Here Habitat Guidelines for Mule Deer Slide DEER & ELK
WORKSHOP WORKSHOP Click Here

The 16th Biennial Deer and Elk Workshop (2025)

The Western States and Provinces Deer and Elk Workshop is a biennial meeting held in odd numbered years.  The workshop provides a forum where leading deer and elk managers and researchers share research results, management strategies, and emerging issues in the realms of deer and elk management throughout North America. Get the latest details on the Deer and Elk Workshop HERE.

WORKSHOP PROCEEDINGS

The workshop has been held since 1973, view all the proceedings HERE.

“The mule deer is a symbol of the West.  The continuing evolution of western land management requires that wildlife managers anticipate changes in land use and make recommendations based on the best science available.“

MDWG

Mule Deer Publications

Mule Deer Fact Sheets

Habitat Guidelines

Director's Reports

  • A published paper summarizing predator research and management experience in the West (Ballard et al. 2001.  Deer-predator relationships: a review of recent North American studies with emphasis on mule and black-tailed deer.  Wildlife Society Bulletin 29:99-115).  This publication was timely and scholarly, when agencies throughout the west were struggling with public pressure on both sides of this issue.
  • Markedly better communication among mule deer biologists, agency directors and commissioners, and the public in all western states and provinces.  Issues are now informally discussed among states/provinces to the mutual benefit of all involved.
  • Coordination of the biennial Western States and Provinces Deer/Elk Workshop and a standardization of format and trend data.
  • A book summarizing the current knowledge, challenges, and opportunities for the important issues identified by leading mule deer experts (Mule Deer Conservation:  Issues and Management Strategies.  2003.  J. C. deVos, M. R. Conover, and N. E. Headrick, editors, Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and Jack H. Berryman Institute, Logan, Utah.  240pp.).
  • A popularized version of the above book for easy reading by non-biologists printed in large color format (Mule Deer: Changing Landscapes, Changing Perspectives).
  • Produced and published the North American Mule Deer Conservation Plan to guide the conservation of this important species throughout the continent.  An MOU in support of this plan was signed by all federal partners.
  • Completed an interactive GIS map of North America to identify important mule deer habitat features to aid in managing mule deer and their habitat on a landscape scale.
  • The MDWG was awarded the Wildlife Management Institute’s “Touchstone Award” in 2006.  The Touchstone Award recognizes the achievement of a natural resource management program, professional or group of professionals in the public or private sector.
  • The MDWG has produced a set of mule deer habitat management guidelines for each of the 7 ecological regions in North America.
  • Funded and produced more bronzes for the Wallmo Award given to the leading black-tailed or mule deer researcher or manager in North America.  The MDWG and Mule Deer Foundation raised $5,000 to have 10 more bronzes produced (20 years’ worth) by Joe B. Wallmo, whose father the award is named after.  This award is given out every 2 years at the Deer/Elk Workshop.
  • The MDWG took part in a workshop in Reno in 2005 to discuss differences in population monitoring and find solutions.  This resulted in a published paper (Mason et al. 2006.  A case for standardized ungulate surveys and data management in the western United States, Wildlife Society Bulletin  34:1238-1242).  The MDWG went on to publish a 120-page handbook for deer managers titled “Methods for Monitoring Mule Deer Populations.”
  • Because renewable and nonrenewable energy development has the potential to dramatically affect important mule deer habitat, the MDWG published “Energy Development Guidelines for Mule Deer” to help guide managers towards responsible energy development in mule deer habitat.
  • The MDWG worked with outdoor video giant Orion Multimedia to put together a video production to reach a larger audience with the products and information they have assembled.  The resulting show titled “Mule Deer: Saving the Icon of the West” is airing on the Sportsman Channel throughout the year.
  • The working group was awarded the WAFWA President’s Award in 2017.
  • Having a collection of the West’s leading mule deer experts presents a unique opportunity to tap into that knowledge to help guide future research so high priority information needs can be addressed as funding becomes available.  In this light, the MDWG has produced a prioritized list of the most important issues in need of additional research.  This work was summarized in a prioritized table for all of mule deer range and also individually by 7 ecoregions in North America.
  • Each summer the MDWG assembles a document to summarize the “Range-wide Status of Mule Deer and Black-tailed Deer” throughout their range. 
  • The MDWG is currently producing a series of 1-page “Fact Sheets” on various topics that are frequently discussed among the public and wildlife agencies. 
  • Produced short videos based on the most popular Fact Sheets to run on social media platforms to get this information to a wider audience.
  • The MDWG has completed “Mule Deer and Movement Barriers,” an informative document about the issues related to highways and other movement barriers as well as information about how to lessen habitat fragmentation and improve connectivity.
  • Disease concerns are emerging as a topic of concern among wildlife agencies and so the MDWG worked with the WAFWA Wildlife Health Committee to produce a set of considerations for wildlife agencies when translocating deer. 
  • Published Recommendations for Adaptive Management of Chronic Wasting Disease in the West in collaboration with the WAFWA Wildlife Health Committee.
  • In collaboration with the Southern Rockies LCC  and Dr. Paul Lukacs at University of Montana, the MDWG helped assemble mule deer survival datasets across their range for analysis of factors affecting mule deer survival.
  • Collaborating with University of Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Wyoming Migration Initiative, Pew Charitable Trusts, Mule Deer Foundation, and others, the MDWG hosted a series of workshops throughout the West to inform and train agency biologists in the latest tools for collecting, storing, and analyzing migration and movement data.
  • The working group has been at the forefront of implementation of Secretarial Order 3362 conserving winter range and migration corridors in 11 western states in collaboration with Casey Stemler (USFWS) and our federal, state, and private partners in conservation.

Accomplishments

We asked Mule Deer Working Group representatives to rank research needs in order of importance from the highest rank “Extremely important and urgently needed research” to the lowest “Unnecessary research: I oppose spending money on this research.”  Their choices indicate how important they believe research on that topic is for mule deer management.             

  1. Impacts of Energy Development.                  
  2. Ecological relationships between mule deer and their habitat (nutritional condition and reproductive success).                 
  3. Evaluation of success of habitat treatment (possibility of looking at digestible energy for deer and work at the nutritional level).            
  4. Evaluation of habitat mitigation effectiveness.                      
  5. Predation (levels, how much can a population sustain).                   
  6. Predation influences of new predators in the system.                       
  7. Impact of highway mortalities, knowledge of crossing structure effectiveness.       
  8. Need to encourage migration studies on new highway projects.                   
  9. Elk competition with mule deer (NV has some info they are looking at).                 
  10. Better knowledge of health status and disease incidence.   

Top Ten Research Priorities
Feature

Mule Deer: Saving the Icon of the West

Tim Abell hosts this look into the challenges facing mule deer. We’ll meet the dedicated people working to help this majestic icon of the West.  This video was produced by the Mule Deer Working Group with financial assistance from the Mule Deer Foundation and the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. This video production aired on the Sportsman Channel.

View Full Member Roster

Related Events

Event Type Date Location
Deer & Elk Workshop Workshop June 16, 2025 - June 19, 2025 Nanaimo, BC

Members List

Jim Heffelfinger, Chair
Arizona Game and Fish Dept.
Andy Holland, Vice-Chair
Colorado Parks & Wildlife
Tom Finley, Leadership Sponsor
Arizona Game and Fish Dept.