New OHA Mule Deer Fund will award $50,000 annually in grant funding for large projects that address limiting factors for Oregon mule deer
By Tyler Dungannon, Conservation Coordinator
OHA regarded the development of the new Mule Deer Management Plan, which was adopted last June, as a top priority. OHA was the leading conservation organization throughout the effort to shape the new plan for the benefit of mule deer, their habitat and hunters. Management plans are important, but words on paper are meaningless without action. OHA successfully challenged ODFW to make the plan actionable with specific to-do lists for each individual herd range.
OHA’s new Mule Deer Fund will provide key match funds for projects designed to benefit mule deer. State OHA, its staff and deer committee are managing the fund, but the execution of this concept would not have been possible without many OHA chapters and the Central Oregon Quail & Upland Wildlife Federation leaning in.
The fund will award $50,000 in grant funding in March 2025, to one or more projects that help restore and enhance conditions for mule deer. OHA conservation staff and the OHA deer sub-committee will rank projects and allocate funds. Submitted projects that will rank highest and be most competitive for funding will address: 1) an issue likely limiting an Oregon mule deer population, 2) a mule deer herd range of extreme or very high management concern, 3) a primary action item in the Oregon Mule Deer Management Plan for a specific herd range, 4) a need within a mule deer migration corridor or priority wildlife connectivity area on publicly accessible lands, and 5) will leverage OHA funds as match to attain additional partner, state or federal funding.
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