WH-
For the most part, I don't think the habitat improvements for sage grouse would help out deer. The biggest problem (at least in UT) for sage grouse is the lack of grasses and forbs in the understory. This is a small part of the diet of deer, which are limited by shrub forage in the winter. Often times, sagebrush must be thinned to increase the grass/forb component. The overgrazing early in this century resulted in an increase and spread of shrub dominated areas, which then helped cause the mule deer population increase that peaked in the '60s.
IT- I know that in UT the sage grouse are doing better and are on an upward trend. All sage grouse hunt units increased the number of permits this year, some nearly 100%, over last year. However, I still don't think I'd call it good yet.
<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1">[ 12-23-2003 06:22: Message edited by: 1_pointer ]</font>