DNR monitoring Upper Peninsula snow depths, assessing impact on deer herd
After receiving heavy snowfall across much of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula this week, the Department of Natural Resources is monitoring snow depths and assessing potential impacts on wildlife, particularly the deer herd which is still recovering from the two previous severe and snowy winters.
Supplemental feeding of deer is allowed on private land in the northern U.P. counties along Lake Superior each year beginning in early January and in the southern counties if accumulated snowfall meets established minimum depths by mid-January. However, if snow depths continue to rapidly climb this winter and exceed the supplemental feeding triggers before the January dates, the DNR will consider taking emergency action to allow feeding at an earlier date.
“With more than 20 inches of snow already on the ground in some of the southern U.P. counties and more than 40 inches reported in some northern locations, we are looking at ways to mitigate potential detrimental impacts of the early and significant snowfall on the deer herd,” said DNR Wildlife Division Chief Russ Mason.
According to Mason, the DNR’s Wildlife and Forest Management divisions are also evaluating current timber sale contracts to identify opportunities to retain tree tops at logging sites on public land for deer to forage on throughout the winter.
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