WHEREAS, the Columbian subspecies of the white-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus leucurus, is on the Secretary of the Interior's official list of endangered species and listed in the IUCN Red Data book of rare and endangered animals; and
WHEREAS, the remnant population of about 250 to 400 animals is confined to restricted areas, totaling about 4000 acres, in Oregon and Washington along the Lower Columbia River; and
WHEREAS, more of this deer's already restricted habitat is constantly being drained, cleared, and otherwise altered for agricultural use; and
WHEREAS, this deer does not maintain populations where its natural habitat is thus altered;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the American Society of Mammalogists recommends to the Secretary of the Interior and Julia Butler Hanson, M.C., that a refuge of suitable habitat for the preservation of this vanishing animal be purchased and set aside as soon as possible, as already proposed by conservation organizations (The Washington Department of Fish and Game, The Nature Conservancy, and The Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife), on the inner lowlands between Cathlamet and Skamokawa, Washington.