The Mule Deer Foundation
Restore, improve and protect mule deer and black-tailed deer habitat, resulting in self-sustaining, healthy, free ranging and huntable deer populations.
Encourage and support responsible wildlife management with government agencies, private organizations and landowners.
Promote public education and scientific research related to mule deer, black-tailed deer and wildlife management.
Responsible and ethical behavior and awareness of issues.
Support regulated hunting as a viable component of mule deer and black-tailed deer conservation.
Develop programs that focus on recruitment and retention of youth into the shooting sports and conservation.
Rangeland and Sagebrush- Steppe Stewardship Award
The Sagebrush-Steppe Stewardship Award Permittee Category winner is Pat Luark with Reverse JL Bar Cattle Company, LLC, nominated by the Colorado River Valley Field Office (CRVFO), Colorado. Pat and his family are strongly connected to the land and the wildlife it supports, and are committed to running a cattle operation, being hunting outfitters, raising horses that they share with summer camps, and sharing their knowledge and passion for land stewardship with clients that visit year-round. Pat’s commitment to improving habitat conditions in mule deer and elk winter range and Greater sage-grouse habitat spans decades and includes numerous projects on his ranch and BLM-managed lands. Pat regularly collaborates with CRVFO and Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) to improve range conditions for wildlife and livestock and continues to help Field Office staff work toward connecting occupied Greater Sage-grouse habitats. He is also working on a new and exciting project with CRVFO and CPW to use virtual livestock fencing on one of his BLM grazing allotments.
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Habitat Partnership Program.
A wildlife conflict resolution program administered by Colorado Parks and Wildlife, overseen by a State Council and implemented locally in much of Colorado by local committees.
Reduce wildlife conflicts, especially those associated with fence and forage, and to help the Division meet game management objectives through duties deemed appropriate by the Director. HPP is focused on those conflicts caused by deer, elk, pronghorn and moose to agricultural operators by implementing both short term fixes and longer term solutions and to assist CPW to meet management objectives for those same species.
Funding
Habitat Partnership Program receives 5% of big game license fees sold in the areas that have HPP committees. While actual amounts vary each year depending on licenses sold, HPP currently receives between $2.2 - $2.5 million dollars each year.
Projects
With deteriorating landowner relations, increasing game damage liability and ultimately smaller big game herds, HPP was created to address these problems in a non-traditional way.
Results
HPP enjoys strong local acceptance by landowners, agency people and sportsmen as a fast and easy way to help with local problems that in the past simply weren’t dealt with effectively and which help maintain adequate big game herds and improves the habitat for wildlife and the range resources for livestock.
What Is Hydro-Axing?
Hydro-axing is a method of tree removal. Specifically, hydro-axing is perfect for when you have a lot of trees to clear out, such as for a fence line, trails or to thin out trees that have been unmanaged and become too dense.
The hydro-ax is a powerful tool that does a few jobs: chops trees, mows down brush and converts everything it touches into instant mulch.T he hydro-ax has the ability to remove groups of trees quickly, but is precise enough to leave desirable trees untouched. Whether for land clearing or land restoration purposes, if you have a large, wild space that needs to be managed, the hydro-ax is the most efficient way to get it done.