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• high, observed elk densities in 1996 (16.5 elk/mi2) and 2003 (13.0 elk/miZ) occurred in years <br />where excessive snowpack was present in the higher elevations of the Williams Fork Mountains. <br />The deep snow may have deterred use of the higher elevations and ungulates moved north into <br />the survey area where reduced snow depths made walking easier and forage more accessible. <br />The elevated densities observed in January 1998 (14.2 elk/mi2) and February 2005 (10.8 elk/mi2) <br />could not be explained by unusually deep snow, as snowfall was minimal in winter 1997-1998 <br />and below average throughout the survey area and vicinity in 2004-2005. Conversely, the elk <br />may have taken advantage of the lower snowfall to feed in grassland and sagebrush-grassland <br />habitats within the survey area where forage is usually inaccessible in winter due to snow cover. <br />As snow depths varied in both years (high versus average), the low number of elk observed in <br />2006 and 2007 (5.8 and 7.1 elk/mi2 respectively) may be more reflective of a decreasing local <br />population, or a shift in overall wintering areas, than environmental conditions. <br />Herds were widely distributed over the expanded area during each of the 14 surveys. <br />However, herds were always conspicuously absent from the agricultural fields and grasslands in <br />• the northwest, north central, and southeast parts of the area. Although elk prefer to graze on <br />grasses and forbs, snow cover over the low vegetation within those areas likely inhibited their use <br />during the winter months. Consequently elk concentrated activities within habitats where ample <br />forage (woody browse) was available above the snow-depth. <br />A total of 57 mule deer in nine herds were observed within the expanded survey area in <br />2007. Mule deer herds ranged in size from 1 to 13 animals, and averaged 6.3 individuals. Mule <br />deer were observed in steep terrain on two portions of the expanded area, the south-central and <br />northwest (Exhibit 1), and were exclusively associated with mountain brush habitats. <br />Despite the observed fluctuations over the years, and omitting the December 1994 survey, <br />. mule: deer densities in the expanded area have .exhibited an overall increase.. since January. 19.95 ._ <br />(Figure 2). The lack of deer observations during the December 1994 survey was likely due to <br />poor ground conditions and the use of a fixed-wing aircraft for the survey, as significantly more <br />deer were observed in January 1995 during surveys employing a helicopter. Densities from <br />1995-2004 ranged from 0.27 to 0.76 deer/mil. Densities observed in 2005 and 2006 were more <br />than twice what was observed in past years, with a record 1.92 deer/mil observed in 2006. The <br />• observed density in 2007 (0.64 deer/mil) was more typical of previous years. <br />2007 Seneca II Mine Wildlife Monitoring Page 6 <br />