Washington Mule Deer Chelan Winter Range

The Chelan mule deer herd occupies a mix of private and public lands from the Columbia River to the crest of the Cascade Range in central Washington. U.S. Highway 2, northwest of Wenatchee, Washington, serves as the southern boundary for this herd and Lake Chelan bounds the northern edge. The high-use winter range includes the southeastern shore of Lake Chelan, the breaks of the Columbia River, the lower Entiat River drainage, and the foothills east of Cashmere, Washington. In the spring, migratory individuals travel northwest into the Entiat and Chelan Mountains to their summer ranges, such as regional Wilderness areas. A small sample of Chelan mule deer was captured near the Swakane Wildlife Area in January 2020 (n = 19 adult females). Thus far, most individuals captured have been migratory, although some individuals reside year-round in the foothills east of Cashmere and along the Columbia River. On the winter range, residential development and disturbance from human recreation continue to be a concern. Semipermeable barriers to migration include U.S. Highway 97A, which overlaps the winter range along the Columbia River, and U.S. Highway 2, which bisects several individual migration routes. These mapping layers show the location of the winter ranges for Mule Deer (Odocoileus hemionus) in the Chelan population in Washington. They were developed from 35 winter sequences collected from a sample size of 19 animals comprising GPS locations collected every 4 hours.

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  "geospatial"
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