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Oregon Mule Deer Deschutes Migration Corridors

Metadata Updated: October 30, 2025

The Deschutes mule deer herd winters near Deep Canyon, the Deschutes River, and U.S. Highway 20 in areas dominated by western juniper, ponderosa pine, and big sagebrush. In spring, mule deer migrate southwest to summer ranges near Wickiup Reservoir, Mount Bachelor, and Oregon Route 242. These summer ranges are covered by mixed-conifer forests including ponderosa pine, Abies amabilis (pacific silver fir), Tsuga mertensiana (mountain hemlock), and lodgepole pine. Winter ranges are frequented by small wildfires, which help improve habitat quality by reducing canopy cover, thereby promoting the growth of palatable shrubs and forbs. Most of this region is forested with some scattered patches of sagebrush-steppe. Mule deer tend to migrate along the wide, steep-sloped Deschutes River rather than attempting to cross, creating a high-use corridor where multiple migratory paths overlap on the western side of the Deschutes River. In addition to western juniper encroachment, Deschutes mule deer are also affected by anthropogenic disturbance. Multiple mule deer traverse or have seasonal ranges adjacent to a 32-mi (51-km) stretch of U.S. Highway 20, which recorded 155 DVCs (all local deer species) on average each year between 2010 and 2022 (ODOT, 2023). Several mule deer winter ranges also overlap agricultural land in low-elevation areas where hay, grain, chickpeas, and grass seed are economically important crops. These mapping layers show the location of the migration corridors for mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) in the Deschutes population in Oregon. They were developed from 48 migration sequences collected from a sample size of 11 animals comprising GPS locations collected every 2-5 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 October 30, 2025

Metadata Source

Harvested from DOI USGS DCAT-US

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date September 13, 2025
Metadata Updated Date October 30, 2025
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Maintainer
Identifier http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/usgs-679176e3d34ea6a4002bfac6
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 fad623d6-eb81-4e4e-a492-e7038d511c23
Harvest Source Id 2b80d118-ab3a-48ba-bd93-996bbacefac2
Harvest Source Title DOI USGS DCAT-US
Metadata Type geospatial
Old Spatial -121.7950, 43.6598, -121.2923, 44.4887
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash 9c7a7693189fca78d4eac2f026302aafb0eeff14e03dcba6f42984c62063b090
Source Schema Version 1.1
Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": -121.7950, 43.6598, -121.7950, 44.4887, -121.2923, 44.4887, -121.2923, 43.6598, -121.7950, 43.6598}

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