CLEARFIELD, Utah, August 4, 2026 – The Mule Deer Foundation (MDF) is partnering with the Eagle Ranch Homeowners Association (HOA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and Colorado Parks and Wildlife to implement a habitat restoration and fuels reduction project near the Eagle Ranch community south of Eagle, Colorado. Through targeted habitat restoration, this partnership can address long-term challenges of habitat loss and human development on wildlife and better support the local deer herd’s long-term health and population stability.
“We are grateful that the Eagle Ranch HOA supports this proactive effort to foster a healthier landscape for mule deer and wildlife,” said Greg Sheehan, President and CEO of the Mule Deer Foundation. “When habitat projects can also shield rural communities from severe wildfire, it ensures these landscapes will continue to provide important resources for mule deer, wildlife, and the communities who call this area home.”
Community residents live in a wildland-urban interface area wherein human development borders wildland vegetation. The HOA is providing $111,000 for MDF to remove encroaching pinyon-juniper woodland stands on nearby slopes that function as big-game winter range. This will open important sagebrush habitat that provides cover and forage for mule deer and other sagebrush dependent species, while also mitigating wildfire risk to homes and structures in the Eagle River Valley.
“The original Developers of Eagle Ranch were extremely forward thinking in establishing a Wildlife Protection Fund to fund projects that help mitigate some of the impacts on wildlife caused by the Eagle Ranch development. The Eagle Ranch Wildlife Protection Committee of the Eagle Ranch Association approved a significant contribution to the funding of this important wildlife habitat enhancement project,” said the Eagle Ranch Executive Board Members in a statement.
The area surrounding the Eagle Ranch community includes a mixture of public and private lands, with the project area encompassing an important winter range and migration corridor for the Brush Creek Mule Deer Herd. This partnership demonstrates how public and private entities can work together to deliver lasting ecological and community benefits, ensuring habitat improvements for wildlife and residents can persist for decades.
The Mule Deer Foundation maintains a strong commitment to conservation in Colorado through its longstanding statewide agreement with the Bureau of Land Management. In fall 2025, MDF began a second 10-year agreement with the BLM in which MDF works alongside the BLM, local communities, state agencies, and private partners to advance habitat projects that might not otherwise be possible. This additional investment by Eagle Ranch HOA is a model for areas in which development and wildlife habitat coexist. These partnerships build on MDF’s broader impact across the West, where MDF-led efforts in 2025 benefitted more than 537,000 acres of habitat and 129 mule deer herds.
Top photo credit: © ssmalomuzh / Adobe Stock
About the Mule Deer Foundation
The Mule Deer Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring the conservation of mule deer, black-tailed deer, and their habitat. Through science-based management, partnerships, and community engagement, MDF works to enhance wildlife populations and maintain healthy, connected landscapes for future generations.
About the Eagle Ranch HOA
Eagle Ranch Homeowners Association founded in 2000, is the governing body for Eagle Ranch, a 1,900-acre community near the town of Eagle, CO. The HOA has a wildlife mitigation and enhancement plan which was developed to avoid, minimize, and mitigate wildlife impacts resulting from the eagle Ranch Plan Unit Development approved by the Town of Eagle.
