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Oregon Mule Deer Fossil-Grizzly Stopovers

Metadata Updated: January 7, 2026

The majority of the Fossil-Grizzly mule deer herd winters near Bear Creek and the fork of John Day River and Bridge Creek, in habitats composed of big sagebrush, western juniper, and grassland. Another group winters to the southwest, near U.S. Highway 26, in areas with higher proportions of western juniper. In spring, both groups migrate to ponderosa pine, western juniper, and mixed-conifer forests around the Ochoco Mountains. Other Fossil-Grizzly mule deer winter to the north, near Arrastra Canyon, Dry Hollow, and the fork of John Day River and Muddy Creek, and use a mix of grassland, western juniper, and big sagebrush habitats interspersed with nonnative annual grasses. Summer ranges for migratory individuals comprise higher proportions of big sagebrush, ponderosa pine, and mixed-conifer forest near Eagle Valley and Bald Mountain. One Fossil-Grizzly mule deer in this area only migrated once before remaining on the summer range for multiple years. Mule deer traveling to summer ranges on the Ochoco Mountains often cross U.S. Highway 26 where ODOT recorded an annual average of 74.2 DVCs from multiple deer species from 2010 to 2022 along a 45-mile (72-km) section of road (ODOT, 2023). In 2014, the Pine Creek Complex and Bailey Butte fires burned 30,257 acres (12,245 ha) and 10,277 acres (4,159 ha) of winter and summer habitat, respectively (BLM, 2023a). In 2018, the Jennie’s Peak fire affected an additional 45,975 acres (18,605 ha) of winter habitat. These fires occurred in a mosaic of habitat types, potentially spreading invasive grasses in areas without sufficient perennial plant cover, but also beneficially reducing dense canopy cover in heavily forested areas. These mapping layers show the location of the stopovers for mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) in the Fossil-Grizzly population in Oregon. They were developed from 40 migration sequences collected from a sample size of 15 animals comprising GPS locations collected every 5-13 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 7, 2026
Metadata Updated Date January 7, 2026

Metadata Source

Harvested from DOI USGS DCAT-US

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date January 7, 2026
Metadata Updated Date January 7, 2026
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Maintainer
Identifier http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/USGS_67917728d34ea6a4002bface
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
Harvest Object Id 6cbe7bd2-cc0c-405e-80be-4c4a63837ac9
Harvest Source Id 2b80d118-ab3a-48ba-bd93-996bbacefac2
Harvest Source Title DOI USGS DCAT-US
Metadata Type geospatial
Old Spatial -120.8264, 44.3029, -120.1742, 44.9534
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash f5008e4bec56be4c17a36c7593f815722a009cb0a01d01736426453496ccabe8
Source Schema Version 1.1
Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": -120.8264, 44.3029, -120.8264, 44.9534, -120.1742, 44.9534, -120.1742, 44.3029, -120.8264, 44.3029}

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