Oregon Mule Deer South Wallowas Migration Corridors

South Wallowas mule deer winter ranges are dispersed across areas of low elevation near the Idaho border. During spring, mule deer wintering north of Powder River and Pyles Canyon migrate to Catherine Creek and the Wallowa Mountains within the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. Interstate 84 creates a complete barrier to southern movement for the South Wallowas herd. Mule deer wintering in areas near Interstate 84, Lawrence Creek, and Manning Creek are largely residents with only two migratory mule deer traveling to Little Lookout Mountain and Thief Valley Reservoir. Other mule deer reside along Snake River, which forms the Idaho border. One mule deer crosses Snake River south of the Powder River headwaters, migrating 24.46 mi (39.36 km) to Weiser River north of Cambridge, Idaho. Their winter range primarily consists of sagebrush communities and Columbia Basin grassland, while summer ranges contain big sagebrush with spruce, quaking aspen, and mixed-conifer forests. Mule deer tend to avoid the lowest elevation areas near Lower Powder Valley and Richland and Durkee, Oregon, instead preferring to winter at an average elevation of 3,435 ft (1,047 m), with average summer range elevations of 5,185 ft (1,580 m). The South Wallowas herd transverses the Keating WMU, which was included in the 2015 Oregon Mule Deer Initiative (ODFW, 2020). Since then, ODFW has removed 159 acres (64 ha) of western juniper, reseeded 203 acres (82 ha) for native shrubs and grasses, and thinned 265 acres (107 ha) of timber stands. The impact these habitat improvements had on population number was reduced when in 2017, January snow depth exceeded 30 in (76 cm) in mule deer winter ranges and average overwinter fawn survival dropped to 24 percent, although fawn survival has since returned to 77 percent in 2018–2021 (ODFW, 2021). These mapping layers show the location of the migration corridors for mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) in the South Wallowas population in Oregon. They were developed from 64 migration sequences collected from a sample size of 27 animals comprising GPS locations collected every 5−13 hours.

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