JACKSON, Wyo. — North American nonprofit the Mule Deer Foundation (MDF) is focusing on bringing attention to conservation efforts for this species in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) as winter puts annual pressure on populations.
According to its website, the MDF is the only conservation group in North America dedicated to restoring, improving and protecting mule deer (and black-tailed deer) and their habitat. Steve Belinda, the MDF certified wildlife biologist and chief conservation officer, tells Buckrail that the MDF has been heavily invested in Wyoming for a long time, with a particular emphasis on migration work in the GYE.
Belinda says that the MDF uses scientific and anecdotal evidence to identify high-need areas within mule deer habitat, where the organization can address fencing, seeding sagebrush and noxious weeds, among other things.
“We believe mule deer are uniquely American.”
Steve Belinda, the MDF certified wildlife biologist and chief conservation officer
“We really try to do what we call ‘turn acres into deer,'” Belinda says. “People come to Yellowstone and Grand Teton and we do our part to make sure that they can see some mule deer, because we believe mule deer are uniquely American.”
Belinda and the MDF highlight that the Lewis and Clark Expedition was the first documented observation and record of mule deer; Merriweather Lewis’ journal mentions mule deer for the first time in 1804.
“What’s more American than that?” Belinda asks.
Belinda notes that a lot of the MDF’s work is about balancing conservation goals with hunting interests. Belinda confirms that hunting is one of the best management tools for mule deer, and his perspective is that hunters were the original conservationists; according to Belinda, he’s seen hunters care deeply about mule deer and supporting populations because so much of their time and passion goes into an activity dependent on the species.
Belinda also tells Buckrail that the conservation of mule deer demands a cross-boundary approach, meaning the ability to manage U.S. Forest Service land, Bureau of Land Management land and private land, because mule deer don’t understand fence lines. The MDF’s mission is to bring all those different agencies and property holders together to support the habitat and migration of the species.
“The attention that we can give them now is going to benefit us for the next several generations,” Belinda says. “We’re excited. We want to make mule deer sexy again.”
Belinda stresses that mule deer in the Wyoming Range and southern part of the GYE experienced a really bad winter last year, and the MDF is funding landscape projects to support them after that. According to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, wildlife biologists estimated that the herd number was about 11,000 animals as of February 2024, a noticeable decline from the February 2023 estimate of 30,000 individuals.
