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H-19 <br />• 1980-81 surveys, 'its importance as winter habitat is probably minimal <br />(LGL 1981). Furthermore, Morris (1984), Lockhart (1984), and Hollowed <br />(19841 have noted that the proposed project area is not a sage grouse <br />concentration area, but that sage grouse probably use this area <br />occasionally during migration or infrequently as a wintering area. <br />H.3.2 Large Mammals <br />Mule Deer <br />The Piceance Basin supports one of the largest migratory mule deer <br />' herds in North America, and it winters the nation's largest herd. <br />Numerous studies have also indicated that mule deer are the most <br />abundant large mammal in the Piceance Basin and the Colorado River <br />Valley (C-b Shale Oil Project 1976; Rio Blanco Oil Shale Project <br />1977; LGL 1981; BI_M 1980). The deer population has fluctuated dra- <br />• matically in the Elasin since the 1950's, primarily due to the severe <br />winters, condition of the winter range, and habitat destruction (BLM <br />1984b). Although the deer herd was on the increase in recent years <br />since the massive die-off during the 1978-1979 winter, the winter kill <br />during the 1983-19£84 winter may be significant (Morris 1984). <br />Game Management Unit 22, which circumscribes the Basin, is consistently <br />among the top deer harvest areas in Colorado. In 1976 it accounted for <br />10 percent of the state's entire deer harvest. The post hunt deer <br />count in the Piceance Basin for 1983 was 27,398 + 5,187; for 1982 the <br />count was 16,605 + 4,017; and the 1981 deer count was about 21,014 + <br />6,118. The Colorado Division of Wildlife's (CD OW) goal for this Game <br />Management Unit is about 40,000 animals (Morris 1984). <br />Observations of mule deer indicate that they utilize a variety of cover <br />and habitat types. During the summer, they tend to occupy higher <br />elevations and mountain shrub, aspen, and Douglas-fir vegetation types <br />• provide the primary summer range. However, during the winter months <br />mule deer concentrate in lower elevation habitats such a5 sagebrush, <br />THIS DOCUMENT COIJTAINS TRADE SECRETS AND PRIVILEGE D,CONFIDENTIAL AND ~ `~ - <br />PROPRIETARY COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, GEOLOGICAL AND GEOPHYSICAL DATA AND ~~On J <br />INFORMATION. PURSUANT TO LAW, THOSE PORTIONS MARKED "CONFIDENTIAL" OC <br />MAV NDT RE DISCLOSED. COPIED OR MADE AVAILABLE FOR PUBLIC INSPECTION, l i <br />