REP44451 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

... -~ .- It has been observed that the intensity of the winter appears to have little effect on winter use by elk and deer in the Moffat area. During the mild winter of 1980-81, the animals moved from the area just as they have during the more normal (deep snow) winters. With few exceptions, the animals leave the area moving west through 20 Mile Park to the Hayden-Craig area to winter. This westward movement by elk is substantiated by telemetry data collected by biologists of the Colorado Yampa Coal Company (CYCC) (unpublished data) over the last two years. Deer movement to the west which usually starts in mid October is substantiated by Jim Hicks of the Division of Wildlife (pers. comm.). Depth of snow is the primary factor which causes the animals to move. During a typical winter, the snow depths range from 2-4 feet on the level in the Edna Mine area. This reduces or eliminates most available forage and the animals leave the area. This movement would possibly not be as great if the range were in better condition. However, a large percentage of the browse species are old and decadent and supply little forage for the wintering animals. It is obvious from the observations that have been made over the last few years that neither the permit area or adjacent areas provide any key wintering habitat for elk or deer. An entirely different situation occurs during the late spring through fall period. As shown by the data on Tables 2 and 3, there is high use of the mine area from spring through fall. There are definate differences in the way the permit area is used by the deer and elk. The deer are observed more commonly in the Moffat area and in the mountain brush communities to the east of the reclaimed areas. The deer forage in the evenings and at night on the reclaimed areas (especially east ridge) leaving early in the mornings to move into the mountain shrub areas for cover during the day. Until the summer of 1982, observations (aerial and ground) showed little use of any portion of the Edna permit area for fawning activities even though habitat similar to that being used for fawning in surrounding areas was available. As shown on Table 2, there was significant increase in the use of the Moffat area by does for fawning and rearing activities in 1982. Whether or not this was a situation unique to that spring remains to be determined. Data collected in future years will show whether this area is becoming a more important fawning area. Elk are found almost exclusively on the southern end of the property in and around the large aspen grove that has remained throughout the mining operations. As was noted in the permit application, this aspen stand and adjacent reclaimed areas are used by approximately 75-100 cows annually for calving and rearing activities. No elk calving has been observed in the Moffat area. However, there have been cows with young calves observed in the Moffat area and in the aspen areas to the east of the Moffat area. Page S