PINEDALE, Wyo. (AP) — The Wyoming Game and Fish Department is conducting extensive aerial surveys over the next couple of weeks to get a more accurate count on the number of mule deer in the Wyoming Range Mule Deer Herd.

The surveys involve two helicopters flying over the foothills and deer winter ranges on the east side of the Wyoming Range, winter range complexes north and southwest of Kemmerer, and west side of the Salt River Range in Star Valley.

Mule deer populations have been in decline across western North America, and the state Game and Fish Department is committed to doing all it can to reverse the downward trend.

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