Forage Use by Mule Deer Relative to Logging in Colorado

Abstract

An area of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) and spruce-fir (Picea erlgelmannii-Abies lasiocarpa) timber in Colorado was clear-cut in narrow strips alternating with uncut strips. Production of deer forage 15 years after logging was 47 percent greater on cut strips. Tame mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) used in grazing studies obtained 63.3 percent of their forage from cut strips, 27.4 percent from uncut strips, and 9.3 percent from logging roads. These sites comprised 44.2, 49.4, and 6.4 percent, respectively, of the study area. The deer grazed 72 species in cut strips, 44 species in uncut strips, and 32 species on roads. To meet the growing demand for both extractable products and recreational amenities, foresters must consider the effect of management practice on all resources. At Fraser Experimental Forest in central Colorado, an objective of research by the U. S. Forest Service is to acquire knowledge applicable to multiple-use forest management. This report concerns the results of an experiment in watershed and timber management as it affected wildlife habitat. Cutting the timber on Fool Creek watershed in a pattein of narrow strips alternating with uncut strips (Goodell l9S8) resulted in increased water yield ( Hoover 1968 ) . Silvicultural advantages and disadvantages from the experimental timber harvest were reported by Alexander ( l967, 1968) and Ronco (1970). As inferred from counts of fecal groups on sample plots, deer use decreased on Fool Creek for 2 years after logging ( Porter 1959). But 10 years later, there was approximately twice as much deer use on Fool Creek as on the adjacent control watershed, and cut strips received three times as much use as uncut strips (Wallmo 1969). Apparently deer habitat was improved by the alternate-strip logging. The present study was concemed with the forage element of habitat: What plants are deer forage, where do they occur in what amounts, and what is their importance to deer?