PINEDALE, Wyo. — More than a decade in the making, the Bridger Teton National Forest (BTNF) and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) have implemented a seasonal recreational closure near Fremont Lake to minimize human disturbance to migrating mule deer.
BTNF Supervisor Chad Hudson signed the special order creating the closure, which runs from Nov. 1 to 30 and from April 1 to 30.
Increased public pressure over the past two years for more migration protections in the area and comments gathered during the BTNF Pinedale Ranger District open house public meeting on June 26, helped in determining closure dates.
After years of collared deer migration research, WGFD identified that the best place for the closure would be the crucial 240 acre migration passage along the Sublette Mule Deer Migration Route, known as the “Fremont Bottleneck” for approximately 4,000 to 5,000 mule deer in the spring and fall.
WGFD data indicates that deer using this migration route travel farther than any other mule deer migration ever documented, passing through many potentially life-threatening obstacles along the way.
This narrow bottleneck is bordered by residential development to the south and by Fremont Lake to the north, which creates a high level of human activity that deer must contend with as they cross Pine Creek, swim the outlet, move past the marina and multi-use trails at CCC Ponds area and cross the paved FS 111 and CR 154 roads, according to BTNF.
“As we were putting up closure signs today, mule deer were crossing right at the bottleneck,” Forest Service Wildlife Biologist Rusty Kaiser said.
According to Kaiser, mule deer will migrate through the bottleneck during November and April, regardless of the weather. Kaiser explains that the BTNF worked to pinpoint the exact closure dates according to the heart of migration.
“When it comes to closures, I don’t like to be too overly preventative and close something that isn’t a problem. But, then I don’t want to wait too long and have the problem get out of hand and not be able to mitigate the impacts,” Kaiser said. “In this case, I think we realized it was the right time to implement a closure and we made it the least restrictive possible to the public while still achieving the objective of allowing the deer to move relatively undisturbed through crucial bottleneck area.”
BTNF said, recent efforts to eliminate the obstacle of non-wildlife friendly fencing in the area has already been accomplished, as well as the acquisition by the WGFD of the Luke Lynch Wildlife Habitat Management Area, located just west of the proposed closure area.
Temporary signs are posted at key entrances to the area to remind public of the seasonal closure. More permanent signs will be posted later this year.
