Management Consequences

MULE DEER ARE AN IMPORTANT GAME SPECIES and have become the focus of intensive forest management efforts to enhance their habitat while allowing timber harvesting. Changes in forest stand attributes brought about by mule deer winter range management lowered susceptibility to Douglas-fir beetle but increased the likelihood of wildfire in the short term, whereas susceptibility to western spruce budworm was not affected. Modelled projections of mule deer winter range management treatments applied to eligible forests throughout central British Columbia suggested an overall reduction in wildfire risk, but the resultant homogenized landscapes will likely have consequences for other ecological processes.