Two new interpretive signs have been installed near Pinedale to inform the public about the longest big game migration in the contiguous United States, the Red Desert to Hoback Mule Deer Migration. Through the use of GPS tracking collars, researchers have recently learned of a doe mule deer traveling some 247 miles one way from her winter range in the Red Desert near Rock Springs to her summer range on the West side of the Teton Range in eastern Idaho!
Wyoming is home to many such long-distance big game migrations and protecting them will take the work of many, including the voice of the genral public. The first two signs on the topic were recently installed at one of the mule deer migration bottlenecks near Fremont Lake, where several thousand animals pass through each spring and fall north of Pinedale. One sign is at the Fremont Lake overlook and the other is at the parking area for the CCC Ponds.
The sign project is being done through a partnership effort including the Wyoming Migration Initiative, Bureau of Land Managment and Wyoming Game and Fish Department. The organizations hope to install four more signs along the migration route where people often frequent.