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H-20 <br />• pinyon-juniper, riparian, and agricultural habitat types located below <br />7,400 feet elevation. The sodium lease tracts are used by deer <br />exclusively during the winter. Results of the 1980-1981 deer survey, <br />indicate that mule deer use the lease area from September to May, with <br />the heaviest use occurring in March and April (LGL 1981). Generally, <br />occupation of the sodium lease tracts begins in September and deer <br />densities increase through January as snow accumulations at higher <br />elevations force dE~scent to late winter ranges. Deer remain in the <br />lease area through April and essentially vacate the vicinity by late <br />May. In addition, fall and spring migrations in September-October and <br />April-May involve concentrated deer movement across the lease area <br />(Figure H-1 ), <br />Approximately 70 percent of the winter range encompassed by the lease <br />tracts is considered severe winter range (Figure H-1). These specific- <br />ally defined winter ranges are key to herd sustenance during winters <br />. of unusually severe' and prolonged inclemencies (snow depth, temper- <br />ature) when adjacent. winter range resources are unavailable or inacces- <br />sible. <br />Deer make differential use of winter ranges by season and vegetative <br />type. Deer populations are not static during the winter months; they <br />tend to follow snowmelt in search of favorable habitat. During <br />particularly cold weather and during February and March the deer are <br />less mobile and tend to remain in one area, although they occupy areas <br />of favorable habitat. During the winter months deer use chained <br />pinyon-juniper and pinyon-juniper woodlands where preferred shrub <br />forage is most available. Beginning in late February, deer make <br />increasingly heavy use of hay meadows and sagebrush bottoms as suc- <br />culent herbaceous vE~getation begins growth. Deer use of these winter <br />ranges varies considerably year-to-year depending upon herd size and <br />winter weather conditions. <br />• <br />THIS DOCUM ENT COIJTAINS TRADE SECRETS AND PRIVILEGE D, CON FIDENTIAL AND <br />PROPRIETARY COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, GEOLOGICAL AND GEOPHYSICAL DATA ANDS. ' <br />INFORMATION. PURSUANT TO LAW, THOSE PORTIONS MARKED "CONFIDENTIAL" '~VV~ .~ ~~ <br />MAY NOT BE DISCLOSED, COPIED OR MADE AVAILABLE FOR PUBLIC INSPECTION, v . <br />