Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program: New Mexico
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

New Mexico Project


Responses of large mammals to forest restoration treatments and wildfire in the southwest Jemez Mountains, New Mexico

September 2011 - August 2025


Personnel

Participating Agencies

  • New Mexico Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation
  • SISNAR program
  • Dallas Safari Club
  • UDSA Forest Service, Valles Caldera Trust
  • T&E Inc
  • T & E, Inc.
  • UDSA Forest Service, Valles Caldera NM
  • Valles Caldera National Preserve

Decades of fire suppression, overgrazing, and logging in the western U.S. have resulted in increased tree densities, altered habitat conditions for many wildlife species, and increased risk of stand-replacing wildfires. Land managers are currently implementing landscape-scale treatments in efforts to mitigate catastrophic wildfires and to restore historical forest conditions. The goals of this project are to monitor the responses of mule deer, elk, black bear, and mountain lion to forest restoration treatments and wildfires as part of the Southwest Jemez Mountains Collaborative Forest Restoration Project. Specifically, we are assessing changes in forage conditions, movements, and resource selection of mule deer, elk, black bear and mountain lion in relation to prescribed fires, restoration thinning, and previous wildfires. The results of this project will allow for more informed design and implementation of restoration treatments that simultaneously mitigate wildfire risk and enhance habitat conditions for mule deer, elk, black bears and mountain lions. This research is in collaboration between the New Mexico Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Natural Resources Management at Texas Tech University, National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, Jemez Pueblo, and New Mexico Department of Game and Fish.