FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Big Bucks For Big Bucks, Does and Fawns
Hunters fund massive public-private research collaboration aimed
at restoring mule deer populations.
GREEN RIVER, Wyo. August 19, 2014 – The Muley Fanatic Foundation, a grassroots
sportsmen’s and –women’s group based in southwest Wyoming, has pledged $1.3
million to solve one of the most vexing and persistent mysteries in wildlife science –
the cause of West-wide mule deer population declines.
The Deer-Elk Ecology Research (D.E.E.R.) project – a collaborative venture of the
Muley Fanatic Foundation, the University of Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife
Research Unit, and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department – aims to learn exactly
what factors are hurting mule deer numbers, which of those factors are having the
largest impacts, and how they interact. At question are the relationships between
interspecies competition, predation, drought, habitat alteration and other
challenges believed to impact mule deer. Scientists will focus on certain deer
behavioral clues – diet, migration patterns and seasonal habitat selection – to tease
out those relationships and, hopefully, the roots of poor population performance
and buck numbers.
In perhaps the most ambitious study ever of its kind, the five-year D.E.E.R project
will use five kinds of high-tech tracking devices, satellite monitoring, cutting-edge
laboratory analysis, 170 helicopter enabled animal captures and the dedicated
services of a full-time PhD candidate.
“Conservation efforts are only as good as the information they’re based on,” said
Muley Fanatic President Joshua Coursey, explaining his organization’s hefty
investment. “It’s critically important that we in the hunting community support this
cause. We’re asking for help from deer enthusiasts everywhere to stop the long
slide.”
Unlike conventional academic research, which is often conducted in relative
isolation, the D.E.E.R. project will inform game management practices in real time,
hopefully reversing alarming population trends more quickly. "UW Coop Unit
research often translates into specific on-the-ground wildlife management
actions. That is certainly the case for this research project - it supports our current
big game management priorities and will provide important findings that can be
used as soon as they are available," said WGFD Deputy Director John Kennedy.
The Greater Little Mountain Area of southwest Wyoming will serve as the project’s
laboratory. Long cherished by hunters as a marquee trophy deer area, the
landscape south of Rock Springs and Green River has all of the suspected culprits –
prolonged drought, habitat alteration, predation, and expanding elk
populations. This suite of challenges, coupled with the composition of the landscape
itself, makes the Little Mountain area an excellent stand-in for high-desert mule
deer country West-wide. “What we learn about the challenges facing mule deer on
Little Mountain will aid in understanding reasons behind our struggling mule deer
populations in Wyoming and beyond, and what we can do to help them,” said UW
Coop Unit Assistant Research Professor and D.E.E.R. project Principle Investigator
Dr. Kevin Monteith.
The Muley Fanatic Foundation plans to meet the project’s $1.3 million price tag with
raffles, memberships and other grassroots fundraising mechanisms. Those
interested in contributing can do so by joining the foundation or purchasing raffle
entries at http://www.muleyfanatic.org .
About the Muley Fanatic Foundation
The Muley Fanatic Foundation focuses and informs the passion of deer hunters to
make D.E.E.R., and other science and conservation projects possible. Founded in
2011, MFF has grown in its first three years from a single collection of local
enthusiasts to 7 regional chapters with 3827 members nationwide. In 2013 alone,
the foundation put $311,090 into on the ground projects in Wyoming and Colorado.
Membership information and other opportunities to support MFFs efforts can be
found at: http://www.muleyfanatic.org .
Contacts:
Joshua Coursey, President & CEO Muley Fanatic Foundation – (307) 875-3133 –
Josh@muleyfanatic.com
Dr. Kevin Monteith, D.E.E.R Project Principal Investigator – (307) 766-5415 –
KMonteit@uwyo.edu
Scott G. Smith, Deputy Chief, Wildlife Division, Wyoming Game and Fish Department
– (307) 777-4579 – Scott.Smith1@wyo.gov
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