Laserfiche WebLink
• It was estimated that 227-237 cow elk used these three calving areas in the <br />Danforth Hills during the 1983 and 1984 calving and rearing seasons, and <br />that approximately 70 cow elk used the proposed affected area as a calving <br />and calf-rearing area during June and July each year of the study. Based <br />on these estimates and CDOW estimates of the size and age/sex composition <br />of the White River herd, it was estimated that calving habitats within the <br />proposed affected area provided habitat requirements for 0.7 percent of the <br />White River herd during both 1983 and 1984 calving/rearing seasons. <br />Elk are hunted throughout the region and represent an economically <br />significant resource. CDOW estimated that the 1984 prehunt elk population <br />of GMU 11 (Figure 4-2) was 2,500 animals (CDOW 1985). During 1984, an <br />estimated 555 elk were harvested in GMU 11, representing 1.8 percent of the <br />statewide harvest (CDOW 1985). Access to the study area during elk hunting <br />seasons is limited and no estimates of elk harvest within the study area <br />are available. <br />• Pronghorn occur year-around in the Axial Basin, west of Highway 13/769. <br />Observations recorded during 1983-1985 aerial surveys suggest that up to <br />100 pronghorn use the sagebrush flats and the toeslopes of the <br />Danforth Hills in this area during winter. CDOW estimated the 1984 prehunt <br />pronghorn population of Axial Basin at 200 animals (CDOW 1985). Their <br />winter range encompasses the lower two miles of the proposed transportation <br />corridor alternative No. 1 and most of the existing Axial Rail Spur. No <br />information exists concerning seasonal movements of these animals, however, <br />sightings recorded during this baseline study and the Meeker PRLA Elk <br />Baseline Study suggest that this may be a resident herd. This herd was <br />recently included in CDOW antelope management unit A501 during the 1984 <br />antelope season. Eighty pronghorn were harvested in A501 during 1984. <br />However, no data are available concerning the harvest of pronghorn in the <br />immediate vicinity of the Axial Basin transportation corridors. <br />Black bears are fairly common in timbered and brush-covered uplands <br />(6,000-10,500 ft) of northwest Colorado and may range through the proposed <br />• affected area during spring, summer, and fall. No bears were observed <br />within the study area during aerial or ground surveys conducted throughout <br />4-12 <br />