The SEIMDF began as a private, non-profit, volunteer effort to assure the survival of mule deer in SE Idaho after a severe population crash during the winter of 1992-93. Throughout the west, mule deer populations were lost to a winter that brought extremely deep snow, cold temperatures, and a winter that was longer than normal. Winterkill is a fact of life in the west, and population swings of deer and other wildlife are part of the normal cycle of life in the mountains and high desert that compose most of the west. 

However, following the disastrous winter of 1992-93, mule deer populations did not recover as they had in the past. The annual surveys of the deer populations by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game indicated a slight recovery of numbers, and then another downward trend in many Big Game Units.  Another terrible winter hit SE Idaho in 1997-98, driving populations down again. 

Water is in very short supply in most of the West. A drought that began in the late 1990’s affected the ability of the land to produce the sage brush, bitterbrush and other forbes on which mule deer thrive. The founders of the SEIMDF perceived a need for a private foundation to act to promote habitat improvement and land conservation, and be a voice for wildlife when decisions on land development, emergency winter feeding, and hunting seasons are discussed. 

The Southeast Idaho Mule Deer Foundation works with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and other wildlife organizations to accomplish it’s goals of restoring the once world-renowned Idaho mule deer herd. Separately, none of these agencies is able to make a significant difference in mule deer populations. Together, with each contributing in it’s own way, the mule deer are again reappearing in places and in quantities not seen in several years.

Completed Projects:

• Furnished materials and labor for bitterbrush planting on a critical deer winter range near the Teton River.

• Furnished labor to assist with a bitterbrush planting in the Downey, Idaho area.

• Purchased Hobble Creek sagebrush seed to establish a seed plantation in conjunction with the Bureau of Land Management.  The harvested seed will be used to reseed burn areas in an effort to expedite habitat recovery.

• Assisted in establishing a conservation easement adjacent to the Portneuf Wildlife Management Area, administered by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game at Robbers Roost near McCammon, Idaho.

• Purchased a mule deer Artificially Simulated Animal (A.S.A). for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game to help combat poaching and illegal take of mule deer.

• Purchased winter feed for mule deer wintering in Arbon Valley on the Shoshone-Bannock Indian Reservation.

• Purchased two tracts of land totaling 120 acres in the Soda Hills Range near Soda Springs, Idaho to prevent residential development of prime deer wintering range.  The land was later purchased by the Bureau of Land Management to assure it’s long-term protection as a vital resource for mule deer.

• Gave the Bureau of Land Management $6,000 to complete another land purchase in the Soda Hills Range to meet the sale price demand of a land-owner, further assuring the important winter range will not be developed.

• Furnished labor and transportation to assist Fish and Game in many facets of an extensive and ground-breaking mule deer study to better determine the effect of predators on the mule deer herds.

• In a partnership with Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife-Idaho, the SEIMDF purchased a 1600 acre cattle ranch with approximately 3000 acres of BLM grazing rights, 10 miles west of Arco, Idaho.  The transaction, completed in October of 2003, assured the property would not become a high-fence bison-hunting ranch.  Idaho Department of Fish and Game studies indicate the property is the winter home to several hundred elk, mule deer, and antelope.   

• Aided in establishing a conservation easement land near Pebble Creek Ski Area southeast of Pocatello, Idaho.  Land around the ski resort is rapidly being developed, displacing mule deer, elk and Columbian Sharptail grouse and well as many other small animal species. 

• Held a public seminar on Chronic Wasting Disease in 2004.

• Held a public seminar on proposed changes in mule deer hunting regulations in 2003.l  

Sheldon Alver  -	President
Jamen Smith  -	1st Vice-President
David Klatt   -	Vice-President of Membership
Sean Mottishaw  -	Secretary
Terry Taysom  -	Treasurer
Justin "Buz" Taysom  -	Board
Greg Lowe  -	Board
Jim Bowman  -	Board
Rick Cheatum -	Board