Mule Deer Habitat Selection Patterns in Northcentral Washington

Abstract

Habitat selection and movement patterns of mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) were studied along Rufus Woods Lake (RWL) in northcentral Washington to evaluate the effect of habitat loss resulting from water impoundment. Deer preferred the Conifer and Riparian cover types and the Breaks Land Form during summer and winter. Basin Big Sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) and Antelope Bitterbrush (Purshia tridentata) cover types also were preferred during winter. Orchard development in these areas eliminated the greatest amount of habitat for the RWL mule deer herd. J. WILDL. MANAGE. 51(1):46-51 In April 1981, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE) implemented a 3-m pool rise on RWL, an impoundment created in 1959 on the Columbia River in northcentral Washington. The purpose of the pool rise was to provide additional electrical generating capacity. The 1959 impoundment flooded 1,500 ha and the pool rise inundated an additional 223 ha of land that was important wintering range for mule deer. This study evaluated the effects of the impoundment and pool rise on mule deer habitat. This research was supported by the Colville Confederated Tribes under contract from the COE, Seattle District. We thank W. R. Heig for providing field assistance, M. D. Samuel and R. K. Steinhorst for help with statistical procedures, and D. B. Griffith for a review of this manuscript. S. L. Judd, Colville Confederated Tribes, provided administrative support for the project.