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4-43 <br />is confirmed in Volume 2 of the West- Central Colorado Coal <br />• EIS. <br />The habitat types most important to deer were evaluated <br />primarily be deer pellet group counts, and by track counts <br />on fresh snow. These were quantitative sampling efforts <br />which serve an important function, that is, to augment un- <br />structured field observations. <br />Pellet-group counts were conducted in four habitat types. <br />At each site all distinct pellet groups were counted within <br />circular quadrats of 50m2 each. Twenty-five quadrats, spaced <br />at lOm intervals, were positioned through homogeneous vege- <br />tation at each of the sites sampled. <br />• The data obtained from the pellet-group counts (Table 4.6-1) <br /> are useful for comparisons of relative differences in habitat <br />use. They are not appropriate for estimates of deer density <br />or deer-days-use, since pellet-groups were of uncertain age. <br />It should be noted that sampling adequacy, expressed by the <br />standard error of the mean (SE) will not permit rigorous <br />statistical comparisons of differences among the four sites. <br />Nevertheless, it is believed that the relative differences <br />shown are useful for general habitat evaluations. The DOW <br />input in the West-Central Colorado Coal EIS (Volume 2) <br />included the statements: "Pellet group transects indicate an <br />average of 42 deer days of use per acre in the area near the <br />lease tracts", and "mule deer winter populations have been <br />• estimated at about 50 deer per square mile. This would <br />