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Washington Mule Deer Wenatchee Winter Range

Metadata Updated: January 7, 2026

The Wenatchee Mountains mule deer herd inhabits a matrix of private and public lands along the eastern slope of the Cascade Range in Chelan and Kittitas Counties in Washington (fig. 24). Historically, the Wenatchee Mountains mule deer herd was separated into two subherds, Chelan and Kittitas; however, recent GPS collar data indicated the mule deer south of U.S. Highway 2 and north of Interstate 90 represent one population. Their high-use winter range extends along the foothills west and south of Wenatchee, Washington and throughout the foothills of the Kittitas Valley near Ellensburg. Their low-use winter range occurs along the foothills west of the Columbia River north of Interstate 90. In the spring, migratory individuals travel west into the Wenatchee Mountains to their summer range, which includes regional wilderness areas. Between 2020 and 2021, collaring efforts focused on the foothills near Wenatchee and in the surrounding foothills near Ellensburg. Collar data analysis indicated the Wenatchee Mountains mule deer population is partially migratory. A high proportion of migratory individuals inhabit the northern winter range of the Wenatchee Mountains, and resident individuals more commonly inhabit the foothills of the Kittitas Valley. In 2022, collaring efforts of mule deer (n=25) in the northern winter range foothills near Wenatchee targeted the higher proportion of the migratory population, to more clearly identify the movement corridors intersecting U.S. Highway 97 near Blewett Pass. The herd has several challenges, including the increasing frequency of large-scale wildfires and residential developments, which continue to degrade and reduce available winter habitat. Disturbance from human recreation on the winter range continues to be a concern. Additionally, U.S. Highway 97 and State Route 970 receive high volumes of traffic in the region and present semipermeable barriers to spring and fall migration. These mapping layers show the location of the winter ranges for mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) in the Wenatchee population in Washington. They were developed from 151 migration sequences collected from a sample size of 97 animals comprising GPS locations collected every 4 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 7, 2026
Metadata Updated Date January 7, 2026

Metadata Source

Harvested from DOI USGS DCAT-US

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date January 7, 2026
Metadata Updated Date January 7, 2026
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Maintainer
Identifier http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/USGS_6584b643d34eff134d42da41
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 b4abc3b8-2819-42ff-96bb-19c365d9d7b1
Harvest Source Id 2b80d118-ab3a-48ba-bd93-996bbacefac2
Harvest Source Title DOI USGS DCAT-US
Metadata Type geospatial
Old Spatial -120.9366, 46.8517, -119.9551, 47.6441
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash 7b73e872d38919841fef2bbae1819bcea7aaa879ec6024d1d1881b94017e067e
Source Schema Version 1.1
Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": -120.9366, 46.8517, -120.9366, 47.6441, -119.9551, 47.6441, -119.9551, 46.8517, -120.9366, 46.8517}

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