Stewardship

Winter Habitat Update from the field

The winter weather is looking incredible for big game outing this fall. According to our partners, foresters, and biologists in the field who have been watching the snow-pack everything is looking incredible for our 2025 hunting season.

Upper Castle Willow Creek Restoration

Deep in the Black Hills National Forest the Mule Deer foundation is hard at work building strategic habitat for mule deer and a litany of other species.

USFS and Mule Deer Foundation Partner for Success

The USDA Forest Service manages nearly 200 million acres of public land all over the country. That’s a lot of ground to cover, especially when you consider the agency’s mandate to make decisions on how best to utilize and maintain the land for “the greatest good of the greatest number in the long run.”

Western Wildlife Conservation By the Numbers

Over the last 25 years, a common assertion you often hear is that muledeer populations are in decline. But is this true? This question is frequently posed to us at the Mule Deer Foun- dation (MDF), and it represents a significant issue that our leadership actively addresses. So, what’s the reality? The answer is nuanced. Innshort, it depends.

Mule Deer Foundation Benefits 122 Deer Herds and Over 700,000 acres of Habitat in 2024

The Mule Deer Foundation (MDF) benefitted 122 deer herds in 18 states through their mission delivery in 2024. These conservation actions improved over 700,000 acres and 151 miles of fence removed or modified to wildlife-friendly standards

What does a CWD Study in Wisconsin have to do with mule deer across the West?

Results from the Wisconsin DNR’s largest deer and chronic wasting disease (CWD) study ever undertaken show that the disease substantially reduces deer survival rates, and suppresses deer population growth.
Dr. Dan Storm, DNR ungulate research scientist, reported the results of the seven-year study in southwest Wisconsin to the Natural Resources Board Jan. 22.
“People should expect to see fewer deer in areas of high CWD prevalence,” Storm said. “Deer are not going to go extinct, but there will be fewer of them.”

Chevron puts money to work for Conservation with MDF!

Chevron Donates $25,000.00 to the Mule Deer Foundation to help put more deer on the ground in Colorado!

Christmas trees and Conservation

We work across 18 states with multiple federal and state agencies looking at forests of all shapes and sizes trying to work out and implement a sustainable forestry plan.

Saving Idaho Winter Range

By: Jessie Shallow (MDF Idaho Partner Biologist) The importance of Sagebrush for Idaho Mule Deer…

The North American Grasslands Conservation Act: A Lifeline for Our Grasslands and Wildlife

A deep dive into the North American Grasslands Conservation Act, a groundbreaking piece of legislation aimed at preserving and restoring one of the continent’s most vital ecosystems.

OP ED on Proposition 127

The Mule Deer Foundation thanks Colorado voters for rejecting Proposition 127, which would have banned the hunting of mountain lions and bobcats throughout the state. Colorado voters affirmed a strong belief in the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation and asserted their desire for Colorado’s wildlife to be managed by wildlife professionals, rather than through citizens initiatives. 

Forest Service and MDF Join Forces on Habitat Projects and Wildfire Crisis work!

Following a keystone agreement on September 2023, the Tonto National Forest and the Mule Deer Foundation committed to restoring 1000 acres of landscape through lop and scatter-type projects