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Sarah Dewey

Mule deer within the Dubois herd make several long-distance migrations into the heart of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (fig. 26). These migrations originate from winter range in the warm, protected sagebrush valley surrounding Dubois, Wyoming, and extend to the southeast on the Wind River Reservation. Each spring, an estimated 6,000–7,000 deer leave this valley and the Reservation and migrate northwest. These journeys, averaging 44 mi one way, begin as deer ascend Togwotee Pass (9,658 ft [m 2,944] in elevation). From there, they cross challenging natural terrain with high mountain passes and disperse into the north Wind River Range, Gros Ventre Range, Absaroka Range, Grand Teton National Park, and deep into...
Mule deer within the Red Desert population, part of the larger Sublette herd, make the longest ungulate migration ever recorded in the lower 48 states (fig. 33). Here, mule deer travel an average one-way distance of 150 mi (241 km) from the Red Desert in the south to the Gros Ventre Range and Teton Range in the north. This migration originates in the desert sagebrush basins of the Red Desert area of southwest Wyoming where deer winter. In spring, an estimated 500 deer travel 50 mi (84 km) north across the desert to the west side of the Wind River Range. From there they merge with 4,000 to 5,000 other deer that winter in the foothills of the Wind River Range and then travel a narrow corridor along the base of the...
Mule deer within the Upper Shoshone herd make a number of significant, long-distance migrations west into the core of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. The longest is a 133-mile (214-km) migration that originates at the mouth of the South Fork of the Shoshone River near Buffalo Bill Reservoir and ends at Jenny Lake in Grand Teton National Park. Deer in the Upper Shoshone herd winter in the lower-elevation sagebrush valleys of the South Fork Shoshone River and North Fork of the Shoshone River. Each spring, an estimated 6,700 deer head west into the high-elevation, mountainous country of the Absaroka Range and then into Yellowstone National Park or Grand Teton National Park. These challenging journeys, an average...
Pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) within the Sublette herd comprise one of the largest pronghorn populations in North America. Sublette pronghorn winter in the more southern areas of the upper Green River Basin. Depending upon winter severity, individual pronghorn winter between Pinedale in the north to Rock Springs in the south, and in the western portions of the Red Desert. Winter ranges include a mix of grassland and sagebrush dominated mesas and rolling hills. During migration, animals that have been tracked with GPS collars (n = 362 females) travel an average one-way distance of nearly 60 miles (96 km), with some animals migrating over 200 miles (320 km). This herd is home to the longest distance migrating...
Ungulate Migrations of the Western United States, Volume 2
This is the data archive for the publication Ungulate Migrations of the Western United States, Volume 2 (Kauffman et al. 2022) and includes the collection of GIS map files that are mapped and described in the report. These map files are meant to provide a common spatial representation of the mapped migrations. This data release provides the means for ungulate migrations to be mapped and planned for across a wide variety of landscapes where they occur. Due to data sharing constraints of participating agencies, not all the files that underlie the mapped migrations included in the report have been released. Data can be viewed at: https://westernmigrations.net. Data in this archive can be downloaded two ways. To download...
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