Tongass National Forest

Deer Habitat Management

Deer is one of the management indicator species and much work is being done on exploring herd numbers, habitat characteristics as young growth-forests age, and monitoring/research techniques. Deer are significantly linked to the wolf in much of Southeast Alaska and they are very important for subsistence and sport hunting. Management of deer habitat occurs mostly in the matrix part of the conservation strategy, but with design species like the wolf, a fairly direct linkage to the coarse filter part of the strategy is available. An interagency deer model was developed for the 1997 Forest Plan, but has limitations for site specific uses. A new forage-based model/tool is being developed by the Pacific Northwest Forest Sciences Lab in Juneau that has promise for use in Southeast Alaska. Presentations on deer habitat management and modeling should yield good discussions on potential management and monitoring approaches that could relate well to deer, wolf and the conservation strategy.