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<br />which has been structurally strengthened with truck tires, has created an <br />extensive pool, in which the resident beaver have built one bank, and two <br />typical mud and stick lodges. In the study area there has been a welcome <br />change in the cross-sectional profile of the gully, going from a classic, <br />unstable V-shaped profile to a more stable V-shaped configuration. The mud <br />bars which have developed behind the dams are providing excellent sites <br />for vegetation establishment and riparian recovery, and hopefully, will <br />lead to a more permanently stabilized gully and channel. In only two years, <br />the study site on Sage Creek appears to be stabilizing as a result of the <br />beaver activity and the abundant riparian vegetation establishing through- <br />out the gully bottom. Willow recovery has been very good in this unfenced <br />study area. It appears that while rest from grazing was achieved with an <br />electric fence on Currant Creek, rest on Sage Creek was achieved in a cur- <br />ious and somewhat surprising manner. The pools and mud bars created behind <br />the dams, which stair-step the length of the study area, effectively blocked <br />the traditional trailing of livestock up and down the creek. Therefore, <br />fencing may not necessarily be needed to rest riparian areas with a gully <br />profile similar to Sage Creek. <br />An important feature of the study is to determine the response of wild- <br />life (birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and fish) to the improved habitat <br />conditions at the study locations. The bulk of the monitoring work to date <br />has occurred at the Currant Creek area. In mid-June, songbird transects <br />were established and run both inside and outside of the exclosure on three <br />consecutive mornings. Two mallard nests were found near the stream and one <br />marsh hawk nest was located. Bird species diversity seems to have increased <br />following habitat improvement with 21 species identified within the exclo- <br />sure (Apple 1983). Although no bird surveys were made prior to the begin- <br />ning of this study project, the species diversity outside the exclosure <br />more likely represents the pre-exclosure condition than the species diver- <br />sity inside the exclosure. With the development of ponds with relatively <br />still water conditions behind the beaver dams on Currant Creek, hopefully, <br />more waterfowl and other water bird species will make use of this area in <br />the years to come. There are several species of mammals using the area <br />along with the beaver. Although no mammal surveys have been conducted, ob- <br />servations from sightings or from sign indicate that muskrats, deer, long- <br />tailed weasels, cottontail rabbits, Richardson's ground squirrels, Northern <br />pocket gophers, deer mice, coyotes, and antelope are using or have used <br />the area. <br />A fish survey conducted in 1980 (Richards and Holden 1981), prior to <br />construction of the exclosure, indicated that in the vicinity of the exclo- <br />sure only mountain suckers were collected. After the exclosure was completed, <br />a 500 foot length of Currant Creek was monitored monthly from May through <br />November to determine species occurrence, composition, and any associated <br />changes which might take place throughout the season (Apple 1983). Brown <br />trout were collected on each day monitored from May through November. <br />Sixty percent of these fish had a clipped adipose fin indicating that they <br />had previously been stocked by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department into <br />Flaming Gorge Reservoir. Rainbow trout were collected on each of the May <br />through August surveys. Being described as spring spawners in inlet streams <br /> <br />32 <br />