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to big game. Sage grouse populations in the area are very low and nu known active leks for sage oc sharp-tail grouse exist un or near the mine plan area. 2) Range sites A and B, mountain shrub types, will be returned to spring- summer-fall mule deer habitat and elk winter habitat wiCh consideraCion for spring and Ea11 livestock grazing and year-round watershed management. Shrubs will be reestablished un range sites A and B in clumps approximately 1.5 acces in size. Since critical deer winter range does nut exist at Trapper Mine, the purpose of reestablished shrubs will be to provide hiding and thermal cover to promote spring, summer, and fall use. These same shrub clumps will provide thermal cover and Forage to wintering elk. 3) The distance between shrub clumps (across open fu rage areas) will not gen- erally exceed 1,400 feet. State regulations require that a permittee demonstrate shrub seedlings are viable and showing growth. This will be demonstrated from density measure- ments. Shrubs that do nut show evidence of life will nut be counted. No actual measurements of stem height ur woody plant cover are necessary. Indi- viduals that are alive at Che time of evaluating reclamation success, i.e. in the 9th and 10th years of liability will have demonstrated vigor and produc- tion putenCial by virtue of the time elapsed. Further, palatable species such as bitterbrush or mountain mahogany wi11_ probably he kept cropped back by brazing ungulates, precluding meaningful measurements of height and cover. The goals of shrub reestablishment are to provide adequate wildlife cover and suitable forage, while simultaneously maximizing the value of the Land For livestock use. Section 4.5.7..1 provides a discussion of shrub cover and forage as required by deer and elk. Appendix E includes a paper "Reestablish- ment of Shrubs aC the Trapper Mine" [hat provides a detailed discussion and justification for the shrub reestablishment Quals at Trapper Mine. 4-1256