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Oregon Mule Deer Southeast Migration Corridors

Metadata Updated: January 8, 2026

Most of the Southeast mule deer herd winters along the Owyhee River in regions containing sagebrush communities and Columbia Basin grassland mixed with non-native annual grasslands. These mule deer either migrate west to summer ranges on Road Canyon and Gravel Ridges or east to the Owyhee Mountains along the Idaho border, with one mule deer migrating as far as Bald Mountain, 38.3 mi (61.6 km) into Idaho. Summer ranges feature shrubland, Columbia Basin grasslands, western juniper, and evergreen forests. In 2014, the Buzzard Complex fires burned 398,596 acres (161,306 ha), including Road Canyon, allowing medusahead and other non-native grasses to invade areas with originally low perennial plant abundance. Five mule deer winter separately near U.S. Route 95, in areas containing higher percentages of western juniper. In the spring, they travel southeast into Nevada to summer on the Santa Rosa Range, with one mule deer migrating to the Tuscarora Mountains. Of the Southeast mule deer that were tracked for at least 100 days, 82 percent migrate seasonally, with several moving to summer ranges in different states, complicating issues of population management. The Southeast mule deer herd faces several challenges, including highways and the low abundance of preferred browse. The northeastern section of U.S. Route 95 had an AADT value of 2,007 vehicles in 2018 and intersects multiple migration corridors, with mule deer commonly crossing the highway along Succor Creek and Rock Creek Flat. In summer, Southeast mule deer spend more time in riparian zones and must compete with grazing cattle in the Owyhee Mountains for high-quality forage during drought years when natural water sources evaporate. These mapping layers show the location of the migration corridors for mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) in the Southeast population in Oregon. They were developed from 140 migration sequences collected from a sample size of 37 animals comprising GPS locations collected every 5−13 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 January 8, 2026
Metadata Updated Date January 8, 2026

Metadata Source

Harvested from DOI USGS DCAT-US

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date January 8, 2026
Metadata Updated Date January 8, 2026
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Maintainer
Identifier http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/USGS_6584b5a3d34eff134d42da18
Data Last Modified 2024-04-10T00:00:00Z
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 4e0210a0-56c6-4964-b000-1d3ae81859a7
Harvest Source Id 2b80d118-ab3a-48ba-bd93-996bbacefac2
Harvest Source Title DOI USGS DCAT-US
Metadata Type geospatial
Old Spatial -118.6547, 41.0654, -115.8889, 44.0258
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash 22689ef3d948b7907027755fa139803dc4ca0aff4060efc87bd9eb867e5eb3ca
Source Schema Version 1.1
Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": -118.6547, 41.0654, -118.6547, 44.0258, -115.8889, 44.0258, -115.8889, 41.0654, -118.6547, 41.0654}

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