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Figure I. Elk density on the expanded and Seneca II Mine areas during winter aerial <br />surveys from 1994 through 2003. <br />20 <br />l5 <br />m <br />v <br />~ 10 <br />c <br />W <br />5 <br />0 <br />1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 <br />Year <br />Expanded survey area: 845 miZ (1994-1996), 89.5 miZ (1996-2003). <br />Seneca II-W survey area: 35 miZ (1994-2003). <br />Additional animals recorded included seven coyotes (Canis latrans). Elk herds ranged in <br />size from 1 to 38 animals, and averaged 11.3 individuals. Elk were widely distributed <br />throughout the area, but were notably absent from the north central, southeast, and extreme <br />northwest portions of the expanded area (Exhibit 1). The predominant habitat types in those <br />portions of the survey area were agricultural fields, reclamation, and flat grasslands. <br />Ninety-five percent (1107) of the elk observed were associated with mountain brush <br />habitat. The remaining elk (55) were observed in sagebrush-grassland habitat. <br />TWC has surveyed the expanded area ten times: December 1994, each January from 1995 <br />through 1998, each February from 1999 through 2002, and March of 2003. Elk densities in the <br />expanded area ranged from 1.9 to 16.5 elk/mi2 during 1994-2003. With the exception of four <br />years (1994, 1996, 1998, and 2003), elk densities in the expanded area have remained relatively <br />constant, ranging between 7.3 to 8.8 elk/miz (Figure 1). The low density recorded during the <br />2003 Seneca II-W Mine Wildlife Monitoring Page 4 <br />- °-~:.-~+~~n,:- a.n -- art .r*.,~x~a,;~.+e..+s+ -w.rwaarsz«rn~rnae,-s~ersa~svxwwm . zss --~--~;-.«~szKwa.ra~vc: <br />