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California Mule Deer Pacific Migration Stopovers

Metadata Updated: January 6, 2026

The Pacific mule deer herd inhabits 353 square miles (mi2; 914 square kilometers [km2]) of public and private lands in Placer and El Dorado counties in California, including the Eldorado National Forest as well as private lands owned by Sierra Pacific Industry and Sacramento Municipal Utility District. During fall migration, Pacific mule deer move approximately 19 mi (30 km) to the foothills of the western Sierra Nevada Mountains, using stopovers in route to their summer range (figure XXX). U.S. Highway 50 and the Middle Fork American River bound the herd’s migration routes on the south and north, respectively. During winter, the migratory portion of the population intersperses with resident deer at lower elevations (2,296–2,953 ft [700–900 m]). The Pacific mule deer herd has been declining for decades because of several factors, including predation, recreation, poaching, disease, and fire suppression. Recent studies indicate a below-average adult survival rate of 77 percent for this herd (Merrell and others, 2023). In 2014, the King fire, a severe wildfire, burned 151 mi2 (390 km²) across much of the mid-elevational area between September and October. Plant succession following the fire modified the way mule deer use the area; does now remain in these recently-burned areas during winter months (Merrell and others, 2023). These mapping layers show the location of the migration stopovers for mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) in the Pacific population in California. They were developed from 149 migration sequences collected from a sample size of 43 animals comprising GPS locations collected every 1-13 hours.

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

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Dates

Metadata Created Date September 13, 2025
Metadata Updated Date January 6, 2026

Metadata Source

Harvested from DOI USGS DCAT-US

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date September 13, 2025
Metadata Updated Date January 6, 2026
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Maintainer
Identifier http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/usgs-67917529d34ea6a4002bfa99
Data Last Modified 2025-02-06T00:00:00Z
Category geospatial
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 010:12
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Metadata Catalog ID https://ddi.doi.gov/usgs-data.json
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Harvest Object Id 9a3d4fe3-d154-4eca-be23-3af6fa8297fb
Harvest Source Id 2b80d118-ab3a-48ba-bd93-996bbacefac2
Harvest Source Title DOI USGS DCAT-US
Metadata Type geospatial
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash 0f4c366ea0bc103573b28795d38ca6b9c0f4a7aae6df971959c90c4e1d398f2c
Source Schema Version 1.1

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