Wyoming Game and Fish gets $50K to help mule deer

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department has received a $50,000 donation to help with mule deer habitat improvements in the Platte Valley. The Mule Deer Foundation donated the money. Tom Ryder with the game department says mule deer numbers in the Platte Valley have been declining for decades. He says that deterioration of habitat from development, fire management practices and other factors is to blame. The game department is considering a various habitat improvement projects. They include developing a new water source for cattle that would help to distribute them more widely across the landscape or staging a controlled burn to rejuvenate a stand of aspen. Ryder says the department hopes to raise more money from other sources.