Willow Creek
Salt Lake City — In fiscal year 2024, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources completed 115 habitat projects to help mule deer populations in Utah. The DWR also released a new online dashboard to provide additional resources and information about deer.
Over the past few decades, Utah has seen periods of growth and decline in deer numbers. The 2024 post-hunting season population estimate was approximately 295,200 deer — 73% of the long-term management objective of 404,900 deer.
As a result, for the past several years, the DWR has prioritized habitat restoration projects and other projects that will benefit deer. From July 2023 to June 2024, $38 million in funding went toward 115 deer-related habitat projects, totalling more than 133,000 restored acres across Utah.
"These important projects were administered through Utah's Watershed Restoration Initiative and the DWR Habitat Council, which coordinates, facilitates and promotes these important habitat restoration projects that improve the quality and quantity of habitats for deer and other wildlife," DWR Habitat Conservation Coordinator Daniel Eddington said. "One of the problems we are currently facing is that many of the ecosystems that deer rely on for food have limited or older vegetation with limited nutritional value. For mule deer populations to thrive in Utah, it is essential that extensive habitat treatments be completed to revert sagebrush habitat areas back to young, shrub-dominated plant communities and to restore aspen communities."
Some of the completed projects include:
- Willow Watershed improvements project in the Book Cliffs area of Uintah County: This project helped provide additional feed and improved the streambed in the area by removing trees that were crowding out other more-beneficial plants, reseeding the area, and maintaining and building new beaver dam analog structures in Willow and Meadow creeks.
- Salina Creek phase 5 project in Sevier County: Prescribed fire was implemented during this project to remove trees that were crowding out and decreasing needed sagebrush and other beneficial plants for deer. The area was then reseeded and two water guzzlers were also installed.
- Wallsburg WMA shrub restoration project in Wasatch County: During this project, non-native and invasive grasses were removed, and the area was reseeded with more beneficial plants for deer. In addition, over 6,400 shrubs were planted in the wildlife management area.
- I-15 exclusion fence in Box Elder County: During this project, the Utah Department of Transportation installed a total of 10 miles of wildlife exclusion fencing and wildlife escape ramps along I-15, from Plymouth to Riverside. They also installed cattle guards by the exit ramps. This area was a documented "hot spot" for a high number of deer/vehicle collisions, so the additional fencing and other measures will reduce collisions and improve highway safety.
The DWR also released a new online mule deer dashboard this month to provide information about deer populations and ongoing research in Utah.
"This new resource is a one-stop shop for information about Utah's mule deer," DWR Big Game Coordinator Dax Mangus said. "Hunters and others can find valuable deer-specific information including migration research, harvest success, population estimates by hunting unit, habitat projects, predator management, unit management plans, videos and podcasts about deer management and other relevant facts about deer. We hope this easy-to-use webpage is a helpful resource for those who are passionate about deer."
