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Heart of the West: Wyoming’s commitment to conservation of migratory ungulates

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Abstract

The small town of Superior, Wyoming, used to be a booming coal town. Pictures from the 1920s reveal sparkling new cars, a bowling alley, and other amenities supported by the wealth of the coal mines. Today, those prosperous days are nowhere to be seen. Superior doesn’t have a grocery store or a gas station, and the local bar is only open occasionally. Aside from the low-slung, modest houses built into the hills around town, the most prominent structure is the county road maintenance shop.

But those hills are also dotted with mule deer—lots of them. Superior represents the southern terminus of the world’s longest-recorded mule deer migration. The study of these deer has shaped how wildlife biologists think about migration, and the conservation of their corridor illustrates how science informs the management of iconic Western wildlife populations. These deer, and their story, may also represent what is possible when we recognize the habitat needs of wildlife that move across the same landscapes where we live and work.

Suggested Citation

Reed, E., and Kauffman, M.J., 2024, Heart of the West: Wyoming’s commitment to conservation of migratory ungulates, chap. of A watershed moment: The American West in the age of limits, p. 248-262.

Study Area

Publication type Book chapter
Publication Subtype Book Chapter
Title Heart of the West: Wyoming’s commitment to conservation of migratory ungulates
Year Published 2024
Language English
Publisher University of Utah Press
Contributing office(s) Coop Res Unit Seattle
Description 15 p.
Larger Work Type Book
Larger Work Subtype Monograph
Larger Work Title A watershed moment: The American West in the age of limits
First page 248
Last page 262
Country United States
State Wyoming
Additional publication details