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<br />Page 5 <br />As was discussed in the 1982 annua'1 report, most deer and elk leave <br />the area regardless of the intensity of the winter. With few exceptions, <br />the animals leave the area moving west through 20 Mile Park to the <br />Hayden-Craig area to winter. This westward movement by elk is <br />substantiated by telemetry data collected by biologists of the Colorado <br />Yampa Coal Company (CYCC) (unpublished data) over the last three years. <br />Deer migration to the west which usually starts in mid October is <br />substantiated by Jim Hicks of the Division of Wildlife (pers. comm.). <br />Depth of snow is the primary factor which causes the animals to move. <br />During atypical winter snow buildup is gradual and the snow depths range <br />from 2-4 feet on the level by mid-winter in the Edna Mine area. This <br />reduces or eliminates most available forage and the animals are forced to <br />migrate to suitable winter range. This movement would possibly not be as <br />great if the range in the Edna Mine-20 Mile Park area were in better <br />condition. However, a large percentage of the browse species are old and <br />decadent and supply little forage for the wintering animals. <br />The winter of 1982-1983 being a typical due to both the volume and <br />timing of snowfall affected the movement of elk from the area. The early <br />deep snows in conjunction with haystacks being left vulnerable to the elk <br />(no paneling) resulted in significantly higher numbers of elk remaining in <br />the Trout Creek drainage, (see Table 2). The animals, especially those <br />adjacent to the Moffat area, are feeding in or being fed from the haystacks <br />west of Trout Creek. They then move onto the Moffat area for bedding sites <br />where there is suitable cover. If feeding of elk continues in future <br />