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r+ <br />'~ Variable use of the area is also illustrated by the amount of use <br />• determined through annual transects conducted by the local Wildlife Conser- <br />• vation Officer o.r the study area. The deer use per• acre indicator varied <br />~.' from highs of about 50 in 1970, '71, '72 and '76, to lor•rs of 11 and 16 in <br />i <br />1974 and 1973. Utilization of browse food plants in some years reached 70 <br />!!~ percent, while in others it was below 10 percent. <br />i~ It is evident that the study area is part of a criiica] winter range for <br />deer and elk in Game Management Unit 521. The big game animals in this unit. <br />provide the base for much recreational hunting as o-rell over ten thousand <br />hunter days per year are now spent here. During minters of heavy snow, large <br />numbers of deer and elk move on to the lower Elevation ranges (including the <br />"study area) from distances up to 10-15 miles. <br />3. Probable Impacts to Wildlife Resources <br />~• A conveyor system to transport coal from the mine to the railroad will <br />cross through more than a mile of the critical ~rrinter• big game habitat. Thc• <br />destruction of browse food plants from the construction and the disturbances <br />during construction and subsequent maintenance of the conveyor system along <br />the proposed route will have a great adverse impact on wildlife, especially <br />to the big game. Art additional impact will be the disruption of movement of <br />most wildlife by the physical presence of the conveyor through the relatively <br />undisturbed habitats. <br />4. Mitigation of Im acts <br />The movement problems can be alleviated through construction of passages <br />across the conveyor system. <br />The destruction of vegetation and the disturbance factors along the <br />. present proposed conveyor route cannot be appreciably reduced. Consideration <br />V-3 <br />