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Mature mountain shrub transplants will be used to increase and speed up shrub <br /> reestablishment and to provide cover for big game animals during the early stages <br /> of revegetation. Mature shrubs will be transplanted into odd-shaped clumps and <br /> strips to enhance "edget1 effect . A few low growing or half shrubs will be seeded <br /> between the clumps of mature shrubs to provide additional browse and cover. <br /> Thomas et al . (1976) working with elk in the Blue Mountains of Oregon and Wash- <br /> ington found that a ratio of about 40 percent cover to 60 percent openings <br /> insured maximum use of the maximum area. They defined hiding cover as vegetation <br /> capable of hiding 90 percent of an elk from view of a person 200 feet away. <br /> Thermal cover was also found to be necessary in both winter and summer to help <br /> animals maintain body temperatures within rather narrow tolerable limits. The <br /> use of mature shrub transplants will aid in establishing these cover requirements <br /> on revegetated areas. Where the mountain shrub vegetation type occurs prior to <br /> mining, mature shrub transplants will be placed in areas where it is probable <br /> that snow accumulation during winter months will provide the extra moisture <br /> needed for shrub growth. Distance between shrub clumps or strips will generally <br /> not exceed 1 ,300 feet and the clumps or strips will be about 1.6 acres in size. <br /> Sagebrush transplants will not be attempted as seeding from adjacent natural seed <br /> sources and volunteer seedlings from the topsoil will provide an adequate repre- <br /> sentation of this species. <br /> These revegetation practices will provide more suitable big game habitat with <br /> possibly higher forage yields in many areas than what presently exists. . The <br /> dense, over-mature stand of sagebrush and mountain shrub will be eliminated a:: <br /> topsoil stripping advances ahead of mining. Reclaimed spoils will be revegetated <br /> with important and useful native species of grasses, forbs, and occasionally <br /> shrubs which will enhance the post mining land use. Shrub densities will be <br /> reduced and over-mature shrubs replaced with clumps of shrubs, producing more <br /> available browse for big game species. <br /> Revegetated areas will not be fenced to exclude big game animals. Fences are <br /> considered undesirable because they restrict animal movement and often cause mor- <br /> talities when animals get hung up trying to jump over them. During the critical <br /> i seedling and shrub establishment period, big game use must be discouraged or ade- <br /> " quately dispersed or young plants may be severely over-used and die. The offsite <br /> 4-157 <br /> � `'� <br />