FWP solicits public comment on mule deer management

This story is excerpted from the MT Lowdown, a weekly newsletter digest containing original reporting and analysis published every Friday.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is seeking public input as it overhauls mule deer management and works to understand what’s driving down mule deer populations in eastern Montana.

In a news release last week, FWP began soliciting public input on 11 guiding principles that the Mule Deer Citizen Advisory Council has developed to form the foundation of a new mule deer management plan. The principles include increasing mule deer populations, using the best available science to inform management, managing chronic wasting disease, improving the quality of the hunting experience, improving landowner relationships and maximizing opportunities for public input.

Mule deer are a hallmark species valued for the economic and ecological role they play in the state. Resident and nonresident hunting expenditures fill the tills of many Montana businesses, and license sales support FWP’s operating budget. Mule deer hunting also underpins important cultural and recreational traditions.

In some parts of southeastern Montana, the mule deer population is estimated to have fallen 40% below the 10-year average. The statewide population in 2023 was estimated at 256,000 animals, down 17% from the long-term average.

The advisory council identified a number of issues that may be contributing to that drop, including declining habitat quality, increasing hunting pressure, weather and climate effects, and the spread of chronic wasting disease, a fatal neurological disease that has become increasingly common in pockets of southwestern Montana and along the state’s northern border.

“Many of these concerns could benefit from further research, increased precision of monitoring and incorporation of results into management actions,” the advisory group wrote in its problem statement. “A lack of data could result in management decisions being driven by public opinion rather than by science. FWP needs to commit to and fund research priorities and management actions to achieve the mule deer plan objectives, while maintaining transparency.”

The public comment portal closes on Aug. 15.