Local mule deer foundation chapter to hold fundraising banquet

The mission of the Mule Deer Foundation is to ensure the conservation of mule deer, black-tail deer, and their habitat. The Bear River Chapter will hold its annual fundraising banquet this Saturday evening at the Riverwoods Conference Center in Logan. On KVNU’s For the People program on Monday, David Tolman of the MDF talked about the scope of the organization

He said, “The foundation was formed in 1989 and has grown from one man’s vision to where we have chapters in, I’m not exactly sure how many of the states we have, but all of the western states and I know that there’s a chapter in Atlanta, Georgia where they don’t have any mule deer. We have some people back there who wanted to have a chapter. They come out here to hunt mule deer and felt like they could help in the fundraising part of it.”

Tolman said the local chapter is a great benefit to the area. After the fire in Blacksmith Fork Canyon awhile back, they planted 10,000 trees and shrubs that provide food not only to mule deer but many other animals. The organization also donates to the Mountain Crest Youth Shooting group which educates young people in the safe use of archery equipment and firearms. Tolman said a major challenge for mule deer is urban encroachment.

“Down in Bountiful, they’ve built houses up on the mountain so far now that all those homes are in the mule deer’s winter range. So they come down and eat the lady’s bushes because that’s where they used to come down to when the snow was high in the mountains, they would come down further in towards the valley. So now they’re within those homes and once they get inside into the urban environment, the only real predator they have is the automobile,” Tolman explained.

They might have a few tickets left for the banquet. For more information, call Katie Gourdin at 435-757-5857. To find out more information on the organization go to <a href=”http://www.muledeer.org” target=”_blank”>muledeer.org</a>

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