2008-03-12_REPORT - C1982057 ‎(2)‎

• Permit No: C1982057
• IBM Index Class Name: REPORT
• Doc Date: 3/12/2008
• Doc Name: 2007 Annual Reclamation Report
• From: Seneca Coal Company
• To: DRMS
• Permit Index Doc Type: Annual Reclamation Report
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

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Figure 1. Elk density on the expanded and Seneca II-W Mine areas during winter aerial
surveys from 1994 through 2007.
20
16.5

Expanded area
Seneca II-W area
14.5
---------14.~----------------------------------------------------
n 13.0
~.
~ 10 ----------- ------
C
raj 8.1
~_ 7.3 7.6
W
s. i
5 ----
1.9
1.4
1994 1995 1996 1997
.2 10.8
10.5
--~3-g. ---9.4----c},~-
7.1
5..
-- ~ -
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Year
Expanded survey area: 84.5 min (1994-1995), 89.5 miZ (1996-2007).
Seneca Ii-W survey area: 35 miZ (1994-2007).
densities in the expanded area exhibit a slight decreasing trend (Figure 1). The low density
recorded during the December 1994 survey was likely due to poor ground conditions (patchy
snow cover) and the use of a fixed-wing aircraft for the survey. These factors likely affected the
observers' ability to detect animals and resulted in under counting. Considerably more elk were
observed one month later, January 1995, when the area was surveyed from a helicopter.
Snowfall and snow accumulation, both on the survey area and in the general vicinity,
influence to some degree, the number of elk that winter within the extended survey area. The
high, observed elk densities in 1996 (16.5 elk/mi2) and 2003 (13.0 elk/mi2) occurred in years
where excessive snowpack was present in the higher elevations of the Williams Fork Mountains.
The deep snow may have deterred use of the higher elevations and ungulates moved north into
the survey area where reduced snow depths made walking easier and forage more accessible.
2007 Seneca II-W Mine Wildlife Monitoring Page 5