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Pfessrs. Crane and Banta <br />September 11, 1~• <br />Page 5 <br />~~ <br />Middle Creek 112 route was located between Middle Creek and Little <br />Middle Creek. The route was approximately 11.3 Km (7.0 miles) in length <br />and went through an estimated 5.0 Km of aspen forest, 3.2 Km of sagebrush, <br />2.2 Km of mountain shrub, and 0.9 Km of grassland. <br />Middle Creek 113 route was located in the North Fork Middle Creek <br />area. The route was approximately 15.7 Km (9.8 miles) in length and went <br />through an estimated 3.6 Km of aspen forest, 6.2 Km of sagebrush, 1.5 Km <br />of mountain shrub, 0.8 Km of grassland, and 3.6 Km of aspen-mountain shrub <br />ecotone. <br />Upper Eckman 111 route was located in the upper Foidel Creek area. <br />The route was approximately 10.5 Km (6.5 miles) in length and went through <br />an estimated 3.0 Km of aspen forest, 4.1 Km of sagebrush, 2.8 Km of moun- <br />tain shrub, and 0.6 Km of grassland. <br />Aerial Observations: <br />Aerial surveys were conducted at sunrise on April 2nd, May 30th, June <br />9th, 16th and 26th. These aerial counts were made by three observers and <br />the pilot. The aircraft was flown along parallel flight lines at ap- <br />proximately 'i Km intervals. A cessna 206 was used during the first four <br />flights at an air speed of about 70 knots. A cessna 182 was used during <br />the fifth flight at an air speed of about 95 knots. Observers counted all <br />elk seen and recorded their location on a topographic map. Sex and age <br />class were recorded when possible. <br />After each survey over the study area a less intensive survey was <br />flown over the Routt National Forest between Fish Creek and Dunkley Flat <br />Taps. <br />Calving Bed Characterization: <br />Elk calving beds were described as being areas about the size of a <br />bathtub and having been scraped free of all vegetation and litter, (CDOW, <br />1980 and Seidel, 1977). Beds were located using this above description <br />throughout the lease area and in an area east of Rattlesnake Butte. A <br />total of 30 beds (Map A) were characterized accorbing to plant cover, tree <br />density, elevation, slope, aspect, distance to openings, distance to <br />water, canopy above the bed, and size of the bed. <br />Shrub (less than 2 m.) cover was determined by the line intercept <br />method (Canfield, 1941). Two perpendicular 14 m. lines with the intersec- <br />tion point in the bed were randomly selected. Species of intercepted <br />shrub, length of intercept, height of intercepted shrub, and width of <br />intercepted shrub were recorded. <br />Grass and forb cover was determined by the point intercept method <br />(Goodall, 1953). The species of plant intercepted was recorded a[ each <br />meter-mark on the two perpendicular lines. <br />Tree (greater than 2 m.) density was determined by the point- <br />centered-quarter method (Mueller-Dombois and Ellenberg, 1974). Sample <br />