Below is a Facebook post from the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. In 2021, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation supplied $100,000 in funding to help purchase what would become the Cinnamon Creek Wildlife Management Area (WMA) in northern Utah. RMEF also provided grant dollars in 2023 for meadow and riparian habitat work within the WMA.
Last month, we began a study to help mule deer across Utah. This study involves removing bulbous bluegrass and mules’ ears — plants that have low nutritional value for deer and other wildlife — and replanting the area with alfalfa. As many farmers know, mule deer love alfalfa! The strain we chose is impervious to herbicides — we can spray it every spring (to eliminate weeds and other plants that try to reenter the area) without affecting the alfalfa.
Alfalfa needs lots of water to grow, so the Cinnamon Creek Wildlife Management Area was the perfect place for this research. This high-elevation area in Cache County receives an average of 20 inches of rain every year and provides important summer range for mule deer.
During the summer, it’s vital for deer to accumulate plenty of fat. If a mule deer can arrive on its lower-elevation winter range in good condition, the chances it’ll survive the winter increase dramatically.
(Photo credit: Utah Division of Wildlife Resources)