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Idaho and Nevada Elk Inside Desert Migration Routes

Metadata Updated: January 22, 2026

The Inside Desert elk herd comprises part of an Idaho–Nevada metapopulation that primarily uses winter ranges in Idaho and summer ranges in Nevada (fig. 37). Inside Desert elk migrate from their winter range near the confluence of the Bruneau River and Clover Creek in Idaho, following the western edge of the Inside Desert along the Bruneau and Jarbidge Rivers to their summer range in the Jarbidge Mountains of Nevada. The migration route for part of the Inside Desert elk herd is divided and generally follows Clover Creek to a summer range near Elk Mountain in Nevada. Elevations range from 4,390 ft (1,338 m) at Lookout Butte in Idaho, to 8,815 ft (2,687 m) at Elk Mountain, and to 9,502 ft (2,896 m) in the Jarbidge Mountains. Winter range comprises a patchy mosaic of intact native shrubland communities consisting of sagebrush, native bunchgrasses like Leymus cinereus (basin wildrye) and Festuca idahoensis (Idaho fescue), and past wildfire scars with extensive establishment of nonnative vegetation like cheatgrass and Brassica spp. (mustard). The summer range consists of high-elevation mountain brush communities including antelope bitterbrush, western serviceberry, snowbush, communities of quaking aspen, mountain-mahogany, and fir. Much of the high-elevation summer range is intact and considered some of the most productive elk habitat in Nevada. Apart from hunter harvest, adult survival is high for Inside Desert elk, and calf recruitment is usually higher than thresholds required for stable population growth (K. Huebner, Nevada Department of Wildlife, written commun., 2023). These mapping layers show the location of the migration routes for elk (Cervus canadensis) in the Inside Desert population in Idaho and Nevada. They were developed from 51 migration sequences collected from a sample size of 23 animals comprising GPS locations collected every ~ 8-12.5 hours.

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

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Dates

Metadata Created Date January 12, 2026
Metadata Updated Date January 22, 2026

Metadata Source

Harvested from DOI USGS DCAT-US

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date January 12, 2026
Metadata Updated Date January 22, 2026
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Maintainer
Identifier http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/USGS_67917581d34ea6a4002bfaac
Data Last Modified 2025-02-06T00:00:00Z
Category geospatial
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 010:12
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Metadata Catalog ID https://ddi.doi.gov/usgs-data.json
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Datagov Dedupe Retained 20260122035920
Harvest Object Id 8853c3e7-ee0f-442f-8372-8748d8fbbca1
Harvest Source Id 2b80d118-ab3a-48ba-bd93-996bbacefac2
Harvest Source Title DOI USGS DCAT-US
Metadata Type geospatial
Old Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": -115.3908, 41.5813, -115.3908, 42.8375, -115.0111, 42.8375, -115.0111, 41.5813, -115.3908, 41.5813}
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash 8f94688c8dee2dc3e5f75fd80b1ebb939a93e3f70316121a9b877621df43364d
Source Schema Version 1.1
Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": -115.3908, 41.5813, -115.3908, 42.8375, -115.0111, 42.8375, -115.0111, 41.5813, -115.3908, 41.5813}

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