Columbian White-tailed Deer Habitat Suitability Modeling

Columbian White-tailed Deer Background

The Columbian White-tailed Deer is an endangered subspecies of white tailed deer.  Once ranging over much of western Washington and Oregon, it now exists in two remnant populations, with one located within the Julia Butler Hansen National Wildlife Refuge, near Cathlamet, WA.  This location is less than optimal for the long term recovery and viability of this species, due to periodic flooding as well as the existence of man-made and natural barriers which prevent expansion into useable habitats, among other factors. To address this limitation, portions of this population are being translocated in order to expand the population range and reduce probability of extinction.

Columbian White-tailed Deer Habitat Modeling 

The Estuary Partnership, in collaboration with the United States Fish & Wildlife Service and with funding provided by the Bonneville Power Administration, has created a habitat suitability model for the Columbian White-tailed Deer that encompasses the entire historical range for the species. The model can be used to identify suitable habitats for translocation of this species. It is a geospatial model that ranks habitat suitability at any particular location based on weighted sums of various habitat attributes including elevation, land cover type, and habitat patch size and connectivity. 

Viewing and Interpreting the Data

The map below includes layers which identify areas with medium-high (weighted scores ranging from 40-100 on a scale of 0-100) and high (weighted scores ranging from 52-100 on a scale of 0-100) habitat suitability as predicted by the model. The layers include only contiguous parcels greater than > 100 acres in size, although smaller, isolated parcels of high quality habitat may exist. The minimum size believed to be acceptable for supporting viable populations of Columbia White Tailed Deer is approximately 1,000 acres, however we have retained the smaller, 100+ acre areas for further analysis.

Obtaining the data and additional information