White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) Use of Forested Travel Corridors in a Twin 735 kV Powerline Right-of-Way — 20 Years of Observations

G. Jean Doucet and Yves Garant

To avoid long detours in routing the first corridor of the James Bay high voltage transmission network, the 150 m wide right-of-way was routed through the Hill Head and La Macaza white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) winter yards. Bisecting deer yards with such a wide right-of-way raised questions about post-construction deer movement in these yards; especially across the right-of-way movement. The issue was resolved by leaving forested travel lanes for deer in the right-of-way. These lanes were located at sites where, over the years, deer had established networks of trails and runways in the forest. Tower heights were increased from 50 to 75 m in order to obtain allowable conductor/tree clearance at Hill Head. Deer winter activity pattern was monitored before (1978) and after (1979–1980) construction. Deer used the travel lanes during the first winter. Various aerial and pellet group surveys conducted between 1986 and 1994 indicate that deer are still using these forested travel lanes, more than 17 years after construction. It is our opinion that under certain circumstances, travel lanes could be successful to address specific habitat fragmentation concerns.

Keywords: Activity, deer yard, forested travel lane, habitat fragmentation, powerline, Quebec, right-of-way, white-tailed deer, winter, 735 kV