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<br />CONCLUSIONS <br />Western Fuels -Utah Inc., track count data has shown that <br />overpass and underpass structures along with elevating the <br />conveyor beltline can be used to successfully mitigate big <br />game migration routes. Deserado Mine belt structure <br />employed a sheet metal cover along the entire length which <br />aided in preventing snow accumulations from blocking the <br />structure underneath. However, in mining areas with high <br />winds and large snowfall events, drifting beneath the <br />structure could be a potential problem. Also, vegetation <br />beneath the beltline was removed through weed spraying <br />operations in order to prevent a fire hazard to the overland <br />conveyor structure. This also helped to eliminate barriers <br />to migrating wildlife by keeping the lower beltline area <br />open. <br />Topography was considered in placement of the Deserado <br />Mine beltline structure. Canyons and washes were used for <br />culvert underpass structures and cutbanks through hillsides <br />and ridges were developed into overpass structures. An <br />initial visual survey of the area was conducted before <br />beltline construction took place. Consultation occurred <br />with wildlife biologists representing the U.S. Fish and <br />Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Colorado <br />Division of Wildlife who conducted on site visits and made <br />recommendations for placement and types of crossings that <br />were installed (Wright 1991). Track count surveys should be <br />conducted during spring and fall migration of big game <br />animals, in order to determine game trails and other <br />wildlife crossings. <br />Surprisingly, animals as large as adult cow elk (Cerws <br />elaphus) and immature spike bull elk where shown to pass <br />under a 0.8 meter beltline. Dalton (1984) stated that no <br />data existed for elk response to a barrier structure but <br />that he suspected they would prefer overpass structures <br />similar to caribou (Rangifer tarandus granti). Data <br />collected at the Deserado Mine showed elk to prefer <br />underpass structures most of the time - 45 $, followed by <br />crossing directly under the beltline (31.8 $), and lastly, <br />overpass structures were used 22.9 $. <br />Interim and final reclamation sites along the beltline <br />construction area can be used to attract wildlife to the <br />animal crossing locations as well as funneling animals to <br />the revegetated big game crossings. The first year after <br />