Project Details

Utah is one of the fastest growing states in the nation. Development across the state has the potential to fragment existing wildlife habitat and change land-use, making it less usable for wildlife.  In order to protect the most critical habitats and ensure wildlife movement and connectivity throughout the state, we need to have data that can inform land management decisions.

The Wildlife Migration Initiative (WMI) in Utah is a legacy program that has changed the way wildlife and habitat are managed in the State. The Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) is a leader in wildlife data collection and is uniquely situated with resources and infrastructure to lead the WMI. Through the program's extensive collaring efforts, and award-winning user-friendly database, WMI's partners have secured funding to improve habitat connectivity, reduce highway safety concerns, and even assist with city planning. The WMI provides a platform to make informed management decisions regarding harvest, habitat limitations, and movement barriers.

Wildlife movement and connectivity impacts every resident and visitor of Utah. The Wildlife Migration Initiative (WMI) is designed to provide wildlife data to inform management and assist the agency and partners in making good decisions.

Provide evidence about the nature of the problem and the need to address it. Identify the significance of the problem using a variety of data sources. For example, if a habitat restoration project is being proposed to benefit greater sage-grouse, describe the existing plant community characteristics that limit habitat value for greater sage-grouse and identify the changes needed for habitat improvement.

Provide an overall goal for the project and then provide clear, specific and measurable objectives (outcomes) to be accomplished by the proposed actions. If possible, tie to one or more of the public benefits UWRI is providing.

Mule Deer-

Southwest Desert (30): This project will be a continuation of collaring efforts completed in FY25. Phase II of this project will cover gaps that were missed during FY25 collaring efforts. This project will help biologists understand migration patterns, habitat use, and survival. Additionally, the BLM field office and DWR are working in partnership with Utah State University and USGS to understand competition among ungulates in the southwest desert. The BLM will also be funding the mapping of migration corridors in this unit for inclusion into NEPA document for energy development.

Fish Lake/Thousand Lakes (50): These units have received significant interest from the Wildlife Board and members of the public. GPS data on the Fish Lake and Thousand Lakes are lacking and more data is needed in order to most effectively manage these units. There is some uncertainty on whether these units contain a distinct or connected population. Deer populations on the Thousand Lakes have been struggling and movement data and cause-specific mortality can help explore potential contributing variables such as predation, habitat, and competition with other species.  These data will also guide habitat treatments and is of interest to multiple agencies wanting to improve conditions on the landscape.   Both units are bordered by major highways, and GPS data in addition to mortality information can be used to understand movement and road crossing behaviors.

East Canyon (20): This unit is experiencing significant human development and there have been increasing numbers of CWD on the western edge of the unit where most of the development is occurring. Collaring this unit will help biologists understand movement to determine CWD risk by documenting east-west migrations. Collars will also document deer behavior as a result of human development and increased recreational pressures. This area is currently identified as a data gap in within the Migration Initiative.

Kamas (20): This unit has seen significant human development in recent years. There is currently no collar data in the unit, so little has been documented on deer movement and migration corridors.  This unit suffered a catastrophic winter die-off in 2023.  Collars could help determine cause-specific mortality. There is an interest in this unit to understand top down predation pressures on population recovery.

Manti (15):  The Migration Initiative would like to supplement the Manti deer survival project by adding 15 collars in specific areas to answer questions around habitat treatments and wildlife-vehicle collisions.  There haven't been many collars in the Northwest corner of the unit. Additional collars in this area would help biologists understand movements around Highway 6, where numerous wildlife-vehicle collisions have been documented. Wildlife vehicle-collisions in this area remain a public safety concern. This area is identified as a priority in Utah's Plan for Secretarial Order 3362 and remains a priority for UDOT region 4.  Additionally, the US Forest Service has been implementing projects in mule deer summer range.  Deer use prior to and after these treatments would be valuable for informing additional work in the area.

West Desert/Tintic (30): While capture and collaring efforts are underway for a neonate study on the Nebo, it logistically makes sense to add additional collars at this time on the Tintic in order to understand movements between both units and understand key migration corridors that cross I-15.

Elk

Morgan/Chalk Creek (90): There is interest from biologists and the CWMU Association in understanding movements of elk on and between these units.

San Juan (20): Movement of elk in San Juan County North of Highway 491 and East of Highway 6 are unknown. There is some local public interest to turn this area into an open bull unit, similar to the open bull unit south of Hwy 491 and east of Hwy 6 (San Juan, Montezuma Canyon). Local landowners believe that these elk are resident/non-migratory.  This portion of the unit has two CWMU's that would be impacted by changes in management.  It is critical to start collecting data for these elk now, so we have the information to update the next elk plan in 2028.

There is also a hotspot for elk-vehicle collisions between Vega Creek and Peters point. Collars here could help inform highway mitigation projects. The Monticello area is an identified priority for wildlife-vehicle collision mitigation for UDOT region 4. Logistically, collaring elk here now makes sense since contractors will be in the area during the last year of the San Juan deer neonate study.

Anthro (30):  There have been attempts to collar elk for two years on the Anthro unit but conditions have not been ideal for captures so the project has been postponed.  Energy development on this unit has changed elk behavior and there is a proposed railway within the unit that, if constructed,  may further alter elk behavior.  When biologists observe elk, they are often in non-traditional habitats.  Collars in this area would help document elk use or avoidance around development and help biologists manage the population.

Kamas (20): This unit has seen significant human development in recent years. There currently are no collars on this unit so little is known about elk movement and migration corridors. With increasing development, these collars will document elk behavioral changes. Collaring efforts for deer are proposed in this unit as well, so it would be beneficial to do these projects simultaneously.

Box Elder (20): twenty-three collars were deployed on the Pilot Mountain range and the west side of the Grouse Creek Valley in FY25 to determine migration corridors and timing. Additional collars in the Goose Creek corner and in the Raft River Mountain will also help determine migration routes and corridors. When moose and elk captures occurred on this unit in 2025 high tick loads were observed in both species. It will be good to gather more data in this area to look at potential issues associated with ticks.

LOCATION: Justify the proposed location of this project over other areas, include publicly scrutinized planning/recovery documents that list this area as a priority, remote sensing modeling that show this area is a good candidate for restoration, wildlife migration information and other data that help justify this project's location.

TIMING: Justify why this project should be implemented at this time. For example, Is the project area at risk of crossing an ecological or other threshold wherein future restoration would become more difficult, cost prohibitive, or even impossible.

Utah's Implementation Plan for Secretarial Order 3362 (2024) identifies the needs to document, preserve, and enhance wildlife movement for species throughout Utah.  This includes documenting wildlife movement, mapping movement corridors and seasonal ranges, and creating an inventory of movement corridors and barriers. The plan identifies to deploy collars on wildlife management units throughout Utah.

The Utah Statewide Mule Deer Management Plan (2025-2030) identifies that one of the primary ways that mule deer response to and adapt to changes in the environments if through movement. The plan identifies collaborating with partners to provide safe wildlife passage across roads and mitigating deer-vehicle collisions, engage with landowners and municipalities to preserve open space or promote sustainable land use practices, use data to target habitat treatment sites and evaluate treatment effectiveness, and balance infrastructure needs with wildlife conservation.

VI. Population Management C.c support the Utah Migration Initiative in identifying and protecting migratory corridors. 
Habitat Management A.a. continue to identify, map, and characterize crucial mule deer habitats including migration routes throughout the state.

Additionally migration is mentioned in private lands, counties and municipalities, travel management, energy development, outdoor recreation, residential and commercial development, ad wildlife-friendly fencing.

The Utah Statewide Elk Management Plan (2022-2032) identifies that understanding patterns of movement and its influences are crucial to the management of elk. Understanding the movements of elk, factors that influence movement, and potential barriers are needed to properly align management unit boundaries with biological groups of elk. Increased knowledge of elk movements can also aid in reducing elk-vehicle collisions.
 
Population Goal A. a. Set population objectives...that account for migration patterns
Habitat Objective C. Avoid, minimize, or mitigate impacts from large-scale development that occur within migration corridors.

WAFWA Wildlife and Movement Initiative (2025-2028) developed to address the needs and risks facing wildlife movement and habitat connectivity across western North America.

These data also support many of our federal partners in their pursuit to ensure wildlife connectivity on the lands they manage.

-Department of Agriculture- Secretary's Memorandum 1077-013 Conserving and Restoring Terrestrial Wildlife Habitat Connectivity and Corridors in the United States
-NPS Policy Memorandum 24-02: Landscape and Seascape Conservation and Ecological Connectivity through Cooperative Conservation. 
-Secretarial Order 3362- Improving Habitat Quality in Western Big-Game Winter Range and Migration Corridors

List management plans where this project will address an objective or strategy in the plan. Describe how the project area overlaps the objective or strategy in the plan and the relevance of the project to the successful implementation of those plans. It is best to provide this information in a list format with the description immediately following the plan objective or strategy.

If applicable, detail how the proposed project will significantly reduce the risk of fuel loading and/or continuity of hazardous fuels including the use of fire-wise species in re-seeding operations. Describe the value of any features being protected by reducing the risk of fire. Values may include; communities at risk, permanent infrastructure, municipal watersheds, campgrounds, critical wildlife habitat, etc. Include the size of the area where fuels are being reduced and the distance from the feature(s) at risk.

Describe how the project has the potential to improve water quality and/or increase water quantity, both over the short and long term. Address run-off, erosion, soil infiltration, and flooding, if applicable.

Description of efforts, both completed and planned, to bring the proposed action into compliance with any and all cultural resource, NEPA, ESA, etc. requirements. If compliance is not required enter "not applicable" and explain why not it is not required.

Wildlife will be captured throughout the state at different times of the year. Each animal will be fitted with an unique tracking device that collects data at various intervals. The data will be stored in Wildlife Tracker for viewing and to be used for management actions.

Most captures will be conducted by the DWR contracted capture company using standard net-gunning techniques. For smaller ungulates, like deer and pronghorn, animals will be placed in a sling and brought to a staging area for processing. For larger ungulates, like elk, the capture company with transport DWR employees/researchers to the captures animals for processing. Data collected from the animal will include age, sex, various body measurements, and body condition. These data will be used to the big game projects coordinator and researchers for additional research purposes. All animals will be processed as quickly as possible and released on-site.

Satellite GPS collars will be used and programmed to record a location every 2 hours and send data via satellite communication every 12 hours. A pipeline of these data will feed into Wildlife Tracker. The expected life of the GPS collar is 4-5 years. Using location data, we will be able to address questions regarding seasonal movements, site fidelity, and migration routes.

A standardized workflow is used to map and update migration corridors throughout the state. Migration start and end dates are assigned using an R Shiny application. Next, Brownian Bridge Movement Models (BBMM) are run to generate migration corridors, and identify winter and summer ranges (Sawyer et al, 2009). BBMM give a probabilistic estimate of a migration route by incorporating the order of the data and the amount of time between points. It provides an estimate of the animal's mobility.

Sawyer, H., Kauffman, M. J., Nielson, R. M., & Horne, J. S. (2009). Identifying and prioritizing ungulate migration routes for landscape

Describe the actions, activities, tasks to be implemented as part of the proposed project; how these activities will be carried out, equipment to be used, when, and by whom.

Describe plans to monitor for project success and achievement of stated objectives. Include details on type of monitoring (vegetation, wildlife, etc.), schedule, assignments and how the results of these monitoring efforts will be reported and/or uploaded to this project page. If needed, upload detailed plans in the "attachments" section.

List any and all partners (agencies, organizations, NGO's, private landowners) that support the proposal and/or have been contacted and included in the planning and design of the proposed project. Describe efforts to gather input and include these agencies, landowners, permitees, sportsman groups, researchers, etc. that may be interested/affected by the proposed project. Partners do not have to provide funding or in-kind services to a project to be listed.

Detail future methods or techniques (including administrative actions) that will be implemented to help in accomplishing the stated objectives and to insure the long term success/stability of the proposed project. This may include: post-treatment grazing rest and/or management plans/changes, wildlife herd/species management plan changes, ranch plans, conservation easements or other permanent protection plans, resource management plans, forest plans, etc.

Potential for the proposed action to improve quality or quantity of sustainable uses such as grazing, timber harvest, biomass utilization, recreation, etc. Grazing improvements may include actions to improve forage availability and/or distribution of livestock.