Thanks to a drop in deer numbers over the last few decades, Utah has made habitat restoration projects a priority. The Willow Watershed improvements project in the Book Cliffs area of Uintah County is among the completed projects. This project focused on providing additional feed and improving the streambed in the area by removing trees that were crowding out other more-beneficial plants. It also reseeded the area, and maintained and built new beaver dam analog structures in Willow and Meadow creeks. “These important projects were administered through Utah’s Watershed Restoration Initiative and the DWR Habitat Council, which coordinates, facilitates and promotes these important habitat restoration projects that improve the quality and quantity of habitats for deer and other wildlife,” shares DWR Habitat Conservation Coordinator Daniel Eddington. “One of the problems we are currently facing is that many of the ecosystems that deer rely on for food have limited or older vegetation with limited nutritional value. For mule deer populations to thrive in Utah, it is essential that extensive habitat treatments be completed to revert sagebrush habitat areas back to young, shrub-dominated plant communities and to restore aspen communities.” Learn more at wildlife.utah.gov.
