The Colorado Wildlife Commission has voted to immediately spend thousands of dollars in an effort to save the imperiled Gunnison Basin mule-deer herd, which ranchers and Division of Wildlife officers said Thursday is threatened by snow depths exceeding 4 feet and temperatures that have plunged to minus 25.
The state plans on bringing in tons of specially formulated feed and closing areas of critical wildlife habitat so the 21,000 stressed animals can feed without harassment.
“They are having a real tough time,” said Gary Hausler, a rancher in the Gunnison Basin. “This year’s fawns are in snow almost over their heads. The adults are in snow up over their bellies.
“One of life’s little pleasures is watching the deer,” said Hausler, who owns the Lost Miner Ranch near Gunnison. “It’s part of the ambiance of living in the Basin. It’s part of why we live in the Gunnison Basin.”
The commission Thursday appropriated all of the $160,000 in its discretionary funds to jump-start the feeding effort, which will be aided by volunteers such as Hausler. The feed is a wafer composed of wheat and other grains, dehydrated alfalfa and cottonseed meal.
DOW officials said that humans have upset the natural balance of things in the Gunnison area. The DOW is willing to intervene because of several factors, which include the extremely large Blue Mesa Reservoir that now covers what once was normal wintering areas for the deer, as well as housing developments and fences that impede the movement and range of the deer.
Tom Remington, DOW director, said that at a minimum, the cost will be $500,000 and could easily approach $1 million. Remington added that if conditions in northwestern Colorado continue to deteriorate, the total cost could be several million dollars.
State officials said some of the money will come from the DOW; much is hoped to come from public donations and private contributors; and, if necessary, the legislature will be asked for a supplemental appropriation.
Tom Spezze, southwest regional manager of the DOW, said he doesn’t want a repeat of what happened in the Gunnison Valley in the winter of 1978-79.
“We were stacking dead deer like cordwood and burning them,” said Spezze, who grimaced as he remembered the sight. “In ’78-’79, we lost 70 percent of the mule-deer population. The conditions were extreme.”
Spezze told the Colorado Wildlife Commission that conditions this winter are approaching 1978 and 1979, and getting worse as a new storm — expected to dump another 16 inches of snow — moves into the Gunnison Basin this weekend. The snowpack is now at 143 percent of average.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
To assist effort
Volunteers who want to help in the Gunnison area should call: 970-375-6704.
