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• Yoast and 1-mile Perimeter <br />Table 1 lists observations made on the Yoast permit area, 1-mile perimeter, and haul road <br />corridor (21.4 miz). Twenty-one sightings of elk were made within that area; seven herds (122 <br />animals) were on the permit area and 14 herds (104 animals) were in the perimeter. Elk density <br />in the area around Yoast was 10.6 animals/miz. That was approximately 23% less than the <br />density on the expanded survey area. Two mule deer and one bald eagle were recorded in the <br />vicinity of Yoast on 26 January. <br />As in the expanded survey area, almost all of the elk seen around Yoast were in mountain <br />brush habitat. Only five of the elk were in aspen and one was in grassland. The vast majority <br />of elk observed during surveys completed in 1994 and 1995 were also in mountain brush. <br />During each of the surveys completed since December 1994, elk density in the vicinity of <br />Yoast has been equal to or less than the density recorded in the expanded survey area (Figure 1). <br />While the area around Yoast supports wintering elk, the habitats there might not be as attractive <br />to elk as habitats in other portions of the expanded area. <br />• Upland Game Birds <br />All three leks in the Yoast area were active in 1996. As in 1993 and 1995, STG-1 had the <br />highest attendance. The peak count in 1996 was 20 males and 6 females on 22 April. This is <br />similar to male counts in 1993 (21) and 1995 (17). A peak count of 12 males was made at STG~I <br />on 22 and 24 April 1996; a lone female was seen at that lek on 24 April. In 1993, 15 males were <br />recorded at STG; a single count in 1995 yielded only 7 males. Lek STG-3 is in a conservation <br />reserve program pasture, where tall vegetation makes accurate counting and sexing very difficult. <br />On 24 April 1996, three males were seen displaying, but four birds flushed from the lek when the <br />observer approached. This lek had higher attendance in 1993, with a peak of 17 males attending. <br />In 1995, only one count was made in mid-April; only four birds were recorded. <br />Raptor Nests <br />Twenty raptor nests were noted in the Yoast area during aerial and ground surveys. Three <br />of the nests were on the permit area; the other 17 were the 1-mile perimeter. Eighteen nests were <br />in trees and probably had been built by either red-tailed hawks (Buteo jamaicensis) or Cooper's <br />1996 Yoast Mine Site Wildlife Monitoring Page 6 <br />