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Like the summer surveys habitat type and condition influenced what areas were <br />surveyed. Accessibility alos influenced what areas were surveyed. There are areas where <br />winter habitat for many species is lacking. These same areas are not readily accessible <br />during the winter months. To access the areas snowmobiles were used to facilitate getting <br />into the area. In many instances track surveys were conducted from the snowmobiles. In <br />other situations where areas were not accessible by snowmobile snowshoes were used to <br />traverse the areas and check for tracks. <br />Both summer and winter survey areas are shown on Figure 1 and the end of this report. <br />HABITAT <br />The following discussion on habitat was taken from the February 2010 "LMA Habitat <br />and Wildlife Report", prepared by Mike Ward and John Monarch. Portions of the <br />vegetation community discussions from that report have been edited to include more <br />current information. However, conditions in the LMA have remained relatively <br />unchanged since that report was written. <br />The area of Mountain Coal Company, LLC's (MCC) lease modification areas lie at <br />elevations from 8,200' to 9,200'. Vegetation communities within the area include: <br />Gambel oak, aspen, Engelmann spruce/sub-alpine fir (SF), montane meadows and <br />riparian. A band of steep topography (30-70%) runs from the northeast near the Deep <br />Creek Slides down toward the southwest into the Horse Creek drainage. Vegetation in <br />these areas is primarily aspen with SF stringer stands in the drainages. To the <br />east-southeast is a bench that is from about 1/4 to %2 mile in width, and has an average <br />grade of 10-12%. Vegetation there is primarily SF with interspersed meadows, some of <br />which contain beaver ponds. Aspen is also present on this bench with varying degrees of <br />conifer encroachment in the understory. Drainages within the boundary consist of Lick <br />Creek, North and South Prong Creeks and Horse Creek with their intermittent and <br />ephemeral tributaries. Within these drainages, especially on the north slopes, vegetation <br />is primarily SF with an occasional Douglas fir on drier, more exposed sites. Other <br />vegetation in or adjacent to drainages consists of Gambel oak at the lower elevations, <br />followed by aspen, then SF in that order as more elevation is gained. <br />3 <br />