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near Craig, Colorado, shrub establishment costs may amount to more than 80X of the total seeding and planting costs. There is potential therefore, to expend • large sums of looney reestabiishirg shrubs without commensurate benefits to the post-mining land uses. 2.0 Review of shrub establishment issues In northwest Colorado, wildlife habitat is lishing shrubs on reclaimed lands in this forage, cover and reproduction habitat for lams are used for winter grazing, shrubs livestock. often an important landuse. Reestab- area is necessary primarily to provide deer, elk, and grouse. I2tie_re rangc- can also provide valuable_ forage for The Colorado Division of Wildlife is concerned with the impact of mining and associated development on wildlife habitat and populations. It is feared that destruction of sagebrush and mountain shrub communities Trill adversely affect economically important wildlife. This conclusion, however, is not well supported by experience at existing operations in Colorado. or current literature. • t ~.,,~ nee The planned post-mining land uses for rangelands are usualTiy livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. However, though it is generally true that rangelands almost always have some use by important wildlife species, st is also true that croplands, pastures, and industrial sites are used by wildl.nfe. In fact, wild- life will use virtually all areas to some extent regardless of the intended land use. When such areas are not critical or limiting to wildli.s"e populations, wild- Iife use may be described as inci~al. In these instances, reestablished shrubs will provide few if any benefits to wildlife populations. This demon- strates the nerd for a test of significance before wildlife use is incorporated as a post-mining land use objective which requires shrub reestablishment. A log- ical test of sig:~ificance is a determination of whether or not an area provides population limiting habitat for an important species of wildlife. Typically, population limiting habitat would include important winter range, elk calving areas, grouse leks, and raptor nesting sites. In most. i~astances, disturbing • other areas would aCfer.C incidental use by wildlife and maw cause a redistribu- -2-