Colorado Cheatgrass Work Targets Mule Deer Habitat on the Eastern Plains

Mule deer do not need another speech about habitat. They need work on the ground, and Colorado’s Eastern Plains are getting some.

The Mule Deer Foundation says it has helped support more than 8,800 acres of targeted cheatgrass removal treatments across Colorado’s Eastern Plains since 2024. The work is tied to a broad partnership that includes the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s Outdoor Fund, Envu Range & Pasture, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, local conservation districts, and private landowners.

Cheatgrass is not just an ugly weed. It gets established in disturbed country, outcompetes native grasses and shrubs, dries out early, and turns rangeland into fine fuel for fast, hot fire. In mule deer country, that means less food, less cover, more wildfire risk, and more pressure on the native plant communities that big game and grassland birds need.

MDF pointed to recent research showing mule deer avoid areas where cheatgrass exceeds 20 percent ground cover. That should make every hunter pay attention. You cannot manage mule deer by counting tags alone while the range is sliding underneath them. Habitat quality decides what the land can carry long before a regulation booklet gets printed.

The best part of this work is that it recognizes reality on the Plains. Much of the landscape is privately owned, so ranchers and farmers have to be part of the solution. Keeping native grasslands healthy can help mule deer, pronghorn, prairie chickens, livestock operations, and wildfire resilience at the same time. That is what useful conservation looks like.

Hunters should back this kind of project because it is not window dressing. Invasive plants cost wildlife. Fire costs wildlife. Losing native range costs wildlife. If we want strong herds and real opportunity later, we have to support the boring, dirty habitat work now.