HISTORY AND OVERVIEW OF THE STARKEY PROJECT: MULE DEER AND ELK
RESEARCH FOR MANAGEMENT BENEFITS
Michael J. Wisdom
Research Wildlife Biologist, USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station
1401 Gekeler Lane, La Grande, Oregon 97850, phone (541-962-6532), fax (541-962-6504),
email mwisdom@fs.fed.us,
Mary M. Rowland
Wildlife Biologist, USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station
1401 Gekeler Lane, La Grande, Oregon 97850, phone (541-962-6582), fax (541-962-6504),
email mrowland@fs.fed.us, and
Bruce K. Johnson
Starkey Project Leader, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
1401 Gekeler Lane, La Grande, Oregon 97850, phone (541-962-6556), fax (541-962-6504),
email johnsobd@eou.edu
Managers have long been concerned about the welfare of mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) and
elk (Cervus elaphus) on public lands in the western United States. In the 1980s, managers
became especially focused on the potential effects of timber management, livestock grazing, road
use, and ungulate harvest strategies on mule deer and elk. These resource practices caused
extensive changes in environmental conditions during the 1980s and earlier decades, but the
potential responses of deer and elk populations were uncertain and widely debated. As a result,
the Starkey Project was initiated in the late 1980s at the USDA Forest Service’s Starkey
Experimental Forest and Range (Starkey) in northeastern Oregon. The Project was designed to
evaluate deer and elk responses to the predominant management activities occurring on National
Forests of the western United States. Four studies were initiated: (1) effects of timber
management; (2) responses to roads and traffic; (3) interactions with cattle grazing; and (4)
effects of age of male elk on breeding efficiency of females. The studies were supported by
novel technologies that allowed ungulate responses to be measured accurately and intensively
over large landscapes. Technologies included a vast ungulate-proof enclosure, an automated
telemetry system, an ungulate handling facility, and a comprehensive network of traffic counters.
The Project now has one of the most voluminous and intensive data sets ever collected on
ungulates. Over 100 publications have been produced, with over 50 studies underway or
completed. More than 40 scientists have conducted the research, with support from the timber
industry, livestock industry, hunting groups, conservation organizations, and state and federal
agencies. Results have been used widely by state and federal agencies to improve management
of timber, grazing, roads, and recreation in relation to the needs of mule deer and elk.
Comprehensive, new research is now underway on non-federal ownerships near Starkey to
complement past and current studies of the Starkey Project. The future of ungulate research at
Starkey and associated, non-federal sites appears bright, with continued focus on studies to
integrate the needs of mule deer and elk with economic, social, and recreational interests in the
western United States.