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• Habitat loss related to mining disturbances will have varied impacts on wildlife <br />populations. The impacts may be direct or indirect, or short term or long term. Removal <br />of 'the vegetation end landf orm will result in the direct loss of food, cover, end breeding <br />habitat. This direct impact will be partially offset by incremental restoration of <br />landform and vegetation through contemporaneous reclamation. Noise, traffic, end related <br />impacts associated with concentrated industrial activities will disturb sensitive wildlife <br />in close proximity to these activities. Disturbance of the land surface and subsurface <br />creates the potential for impacting surface and ground water quality and quantity, and <br />destroys or alters natural physical shelters and other structural features utilized by <br />wildlife. <br />Mobile wildlife species will not be as severely influenced by the disturbances as less <br />mobile species such as smell mammals, strongly territorial birds, reptiles, and <br />amphibians. Restricted species can be expected to be extirpated in the disturbance areas. <br />The larger and more mobile species will be displaced into surrounding areas, creating <br />increased competition for the available resources depending upon resource limitations. Lf <br />the surrounding areas are at or near carrying capacity, populations will be stressed until <br />a new equilibrium is reached. Displaced species which have the capacity to exploit <br />habitats created by reclamation activities will repopulate developing and mature reclaimed <br />habitats. Reclamation will also result in a certain amount of long term habitat <br />alterations which will result in exploitation by species not found or rarely found in <br />6aseLine studies. Overall regional habitat diversity and concomitant wildlife species <br />diversity may ultimately improve as a result of the interspersion of reclaimed habitat in <br />the broader mountain brush and sagebrush habitats surrounding the minesite. <br />Xining will result in temporary habitat loss during the operational life of the mine, and <br />habitat alteration during and after reclamation. No net loss of habitat will occur with <br />the exception of 10.2 acres along the haulroad alignment which will be converted to a <br />permanent public access road. There ere extensive tracts of the pre-disturbance habitats <br />regionally. The Mountain brush, sagebrush, aspen, grass-forb meadow, and mesic drainages <br />are not rare or unique to the Yoast area. Few, if any vertebrates are wholly dependent <br />upon them; therefore, the impact of manipulation of a small percentage can be viewed as <br />negligible. <br />• Big Game. The Yoast permit area is within an area designated as elk winter range (Tab <br />11). Severe winter range overlaps approximately 200 acres in the northern portion of the <br />3 Revised 06/18/95 <br />