How can tracking deer benefit Fishlake National Forest’s Pando clone?

Written by Alysha Lundgren
September 23, 2023

ST. GEORGE — On a stormy day in Fishlake National Forest, trucks marked with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources’ logo navigated the rain-soaked highway seeking mule deer to tranquilize and collar — a task that could benefit one of the world’s largest organisms.

Utah Division of Wildlife Resources staff search for deer in Pando, Fishlake National Forest, Utah, Aug. 14, 2023 | Photo by Alysha Lundgren, St. George News

Pando, meaning “I spread” in Latin, is located in south-central Utah’s Fishlake National Forest. The quaking aspen clone occupies approximately 106 acres, weighing nearly 13 million pounds and comprising over 40,000 “stems” in the form of individual trees, according to the Friends of Pando website.

While aspens can reproduce via seeds, they are more likely to do so through suckering, where stems — clones of the original tree — shoot up from the root system, DWR biologist Vance Mumford told St. George News. Pando is thought to have “sprung up from a single seed” near the end of the last ice age.

Paul Rogers, a professor at Utah State University and director of the Western Aspen Alliance, said that Pando is in trouble due to various factors, such as climate change and hungry herbivores, which has caused its regeneration to slow, St. George News previously reported.

Friends of Pando’s Executive Director Lance Oditt said more data is needed to support the oft-written conclusion that “Pando is dying.”

Aspen trees grow in Fishlake National Forest, Utah, Aug. 14, 2023 | Photo by Alysha Lundgren, St. George News

Many of the clone’s trees are over 100 years old, with fewer mature trees between 20 and 50, possibly due to hungry mule deer feasting on saplings. And Mumford said this process has likely been ongoing for a “long time.”

“Now we’re paying attention because the stand is getting thinner,” he said.

When the animals browse on the developing stems and leaves, it could stop the growth and eventually cause the young tree to die, Mumford said. With lifespans shorter than many other trees, sapling survival is essential for maintaining the tree’s size and overall health.

Additionally, Friends of Pando writes that deer and elk also eat the bark of mature aspens, creating scars that make them more vulnerable to disease and other animals.

Deer and elk prefer to eat young aspen trees, browsing their stems and leaves, Fishlake National Forest, Utah, Aug. 14, 2023 | Photo by Alysha Lundgren, St. George News

While cattle could significantly impact Pando if a large herd chose to graze on many young aspens, Mumford said they are more likely to eat nearby grass and spend much less time in the tree than native herbivores, like elk or deer.

“Deer just love it here,” he said. “There’s lots of water. They are kind of used to people, so the people don’t really frighten them, and they just feel safe here.”

To protect the tree from overbrowsing and encourage regeneration, the U.S. Forest Service installed 8-foot tall fencing, enclosing about 53 acres, in which cattle are not permitted.

While Pando’s deer appear to be making an impact, the DWR wants to avoid using hunting to reduce their population, as residents and visitors alike love to see them. Additionally, there are about 2,000 fewer animals than the division’s population target, likely due to drought.

“We don’t really have an overpopulation of deer, but we do have somewhat heavy use right here,” he said, standing in Pando.

Tracking deer movement

Vance Mumford works with a tranquilized deer, Fishlake National Forest, Utah, date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Vance Mumford/the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, St. George News

The Forest Service makes the final decisions on managing Pando and Fishlake National Forest. Mumford said it has done a “good job” managing people, animals, fences and disease, among its other responsibilities. The DWR’s role is to manage and understand wildlife.

Division staff traveled to the clone to fit local deer with GPS-tracking collars to collect data to understand deer movement better and make informed decisions.

“Deer and wildlife play a role in the ecosystem, and particularly the Pando clone, and we want to make good decisions when it comes to wildlife,” he said. “And so by putting radio collars on these deer, they’ll give us a better understanding of their movement — their seasonal movement, their daily movement, their home range size and help give us some more information to use to help us make better management decisions in the future when it comes to wildlife.”

Trucks meandered up and down state Route 25, which bisects the clone, in stormy August weather in search of the animals. Mumford said finding them was easy, but getting close enough to shoot one with a tranquilizer dart was more difficult.

“We could have one down in a half hour or go all evening and be unsuccessful,” he said.

Once tranquilized, the animal would sleep for approximately one to two hours. Staff would monitor its vital signs as they put the collar in place. Then, the deer would be given a “reversal” shot to recover and leave the area. The goal was to collar 10 of the 30-50 deer that frequent the area, which Mumford said would be an adequate sample size.

“We’ve been putting radio collars on deer for a long time,” he said. “These radio collars we have give a VHF (very high frequency) signal. So it’s a radio signal that we can pick up on a receiver. And they also give a GPS signal — just like your phone. So we actually can have these collars tell us every two hours — or whatever we set it at — where that deer is. Or we can look on our computer and see exactly where that deer is relative to the clone.”

A Utah Division of Wildlife Resources staff member works with a tranquilized deer, Fishlake National Forest, Utah, date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Vance Mumford/the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, St. George News

The collars are not expected to impact the deer negatively, Mumford said, adding that they will remain in place after the batteries die, which is expected in up to five to six years.

“They’ll just have a piece of jewelry on them for the rest of their life,” he said.

Currently, the division is resistant to ruling out management options as they are still collecting data. Several strategies are still on the table, including reducing the population or hazing — scaring them away from the area, Mumford said. They plan to begin analyzing the data next year.

Oditt said Friends of Pando is working with the Forest Service and the DWR to continue monitoring the tree’s wild residents, including deer, birds and bats.

Some potential tools include microphones to record bioacoustic data like bird sounds to track migration patterns and fitting wildlife with radio-frequency identification tags as an alternative to collaring, which he said could reduce the time spent handling the animals.

The drone footage in the video at the top of this article is courtesy of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.

Photo Gallery

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2023, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Alysha Lundgren joined the St. George News team in 2022. She began her career as a freelancer, writing resource articles for families of children with disabilities. She's also covered topics such as astronomy, recreation and nature. Originally from Nevada, Alysha fell in love with Utah quickly after moving to Cedar City. In her free time, she enjoys wandering and photographing Utah's gorgeous landscapes or hunkering down in a blanket to play video games or read a good book.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @STGnews

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