Nevada Mule Deer Area 17-Toiyabe Routes

The Area 17-Toiyabe mule deer herd inhabits the Shoshone Mountains and Toiyabe Range, which run north to south in central Nevada (fig. 11). Mule deer from the Shoshone Mountains and Toiyabe Range are characterized by short distance migrations from high elevations above 7,874 ft (2,400 m), down to 5,577 ft (1,700 m). Since the 1920s, the lower elevation slopes east of Toiyabe Dome, between Wisconsin Creek and Broad Creek and locally known as Toiyabe bench, have been documented by the Nevada Department of Wildlife as crucial mule deer winter range. Because of the value of this habitat for mule deer, the BLM closed the area to domestic livestock grazing in 1983 (Nevada Department of Wildlife, 1985). In 2018, in collaboration with Nevada Department of Wildlife, the FS treated 2,600 acres (647 ha) of pinyon and juniper—thinning the woody vegetation wherever they encroached shrublands—on the crucial mule deer wintering habitat (Gundlach, 2022). Other pinyon and juniper treatments are ongoing in Indian Valley, an area of high importance for year-round mule deer habitat between the Shoshone Mountains and Toiyabe Range. Senescent browse, reduced forbs, drought, and pinyon and juniper encroachment are the greatest conservation challenges the Area 17-Toiyabe mule deer herd face. These mapping layers show the location of the Migration routes for mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) in the Area 17-Toiyabe population in Nevada. They were developed from 98 migration sequences collected from a sample size of 35 animals comprising GPS locations collected every 2−5 hours.

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