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Lorenciro Cam~on Mine - Wi(d(ife Technical ReOOtt <br />• Pinyon pine, Utah juniper, and one-seed juniper dominate dry mountain escarpments and low <br />mesas and plateaus. Juniper seems limited in the permit area, but is much more dominant to the <br />north. A sparse understory of grasses and forbs is present. <br />Wildlife Resource <br />The following sections describe the available information for the species and groups of species <br />using the Lorencito Canyon Mine permit area. The discussions focus on densities or relative <br />abundances, season of use, and habitats of use. <br />Big Game <br />Elk and mule deer occur through out the permit area. They are year-rourid residents that utilize <br />all the major habitat types within the permit area. Both species are managed by the CDOW and <br />both are hunted extensively within the permit area as well as the surrounding area. <br />Elk <br />The CDOW has identified the entire permit area as elk overall range and the southern and western <br />portion of the permit area as elk winter range (Figure W-1). Overall range is identified as the <br />• area that encompasses all known seasonal activities within the observed range of an elk population. <br />The CDOW defines winter range as that part of the overall range where 90 percent of the <br />individuals are located during the average five winters out of ten from the first heavy snowfall to <br />spring green-up (CDOW, 1996a). Data Analysis Unit (DAU) 33 is approximately 3,147 square <br />miles, of which 92 percent is privately owned (Davies, 1996). The permit area occupies almost <br />one percent of DAU 33. <br />Elk within the permit area are part of the Trinchera herd. This herd is second in size only to the <br />White River herd in northern Colorado. To manage big game populations within the Colorado, <br />the CDOW has placed big game herds into DAU. The DAU are further divided into Hunt Units. <br />The Hunt Units are used to manage hunter numbers within certain areas. The permit area is <br />contained within DAU 33 and, more specifically, Hunt Unit 851 (CDOW, 1993a). <br />Within DAU 33, the CDOW estimates 22,773 elk occur, with a bull:cow ratio of 72:100 (CDOW, <br />1995). The 1995 rifle hunter success in the Hunt Unit ranged from 22 to 44 percent (CDOW, <br />1996a). Elk harvest within Hunt Unit 851 has increased from 222 bulls taken in 1975 to 770 bulls <br />harvested in 1994. In addition, the cow harvest in this area has increased from 18 in 1975 to 276 <br />in 1994. Although the harvest has increased, the total annual harvest has decreased slightly from <br />4.6 percent in 1975 to 4.5 percent in 1994. <br />~J <br />WilAlife.475/December 9. 199fi <br />