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and can be expected to continue occurring on this site as it does on other areas such as inclusions of <br />croplands. The sage-grass site does not provide hiding or thermal cover to big game. Sage grouse <br />populations in the area are very low and no known active leks for sage or sharp-tail grouse exist on or <br />near the mine plan area. <br />2) Range sites A and B, mountain shrub types, will be returned to spring-summer-fall mule deer habitat <br />and elk winter habitat with consideration for spring and fall livestock grazing and year-round watershed <br />management. <br />Shrubs will be reestablished on range sites A and B in clumps approximately 1.6 acres in size. Since <br />critical deer winter range does not exist at Trapper Mine, the purpose of reestablished shrubs will be <br />to provide hiding and thermal cover to promote spring, summer, and fall use. These same shrub <br />clumps will provide thermal cover and forage to wintering elk. Shrub clump survival data is given in <br />Table 4.4-13. Mature shrub clumps will be considered successfully established upon verification that <br />at least 50% of all transplanted shrub pads within the shrub clumps to be evaluated in a bond release <br />block contain at least 10 live woody stems. Shrub pads are defined as a single front-end-loader <br />bucket load of native shrub stems that are transplanted into a shrub clump situated in a reclaimed <br />area. A shrub pad is removed by a front-end-loader bucket below ground level such that native soil <br />and root mass are included with the pad. <br />3) The distance between shrub clumps (across open forage areas) will not generally exceed 1,400 feet. <br />State regulations require that a permittee demonstrate shrub seedlings are viable and showing growth. <br />This will be demonstrated from density measurements. Shrubs that do not show evidence of life will not <br />be counted. No actual measurements of stem height or woody plant cover are necessary. Individuals that <br />are alive at the time of evaluating reclamation success, i.e, in the 10th year of liability will have <br />demonstrated vigor and production potential by virtue of the time elapsed, Further, palatable species such <br />as bitterbrush or mountain mahogany will probably be kept cropped back by grazing ungulates, precluding <br />meaningful measurements of height and cover. <br />The goals of shrub re-establishment are to provide adequate wildlife cover and suitable forage, while <br />simultaneously maximizing the value of the land for livestock use. Section 4.6.2.1 provides a discussion <br />of shrub cover and forage as required by deer and elk. Appendix O includes a paper "Re-establishment of <br />Shrubs at the Trapper Mine" that provides a detailed discussion and justification for the shrub re- <br />establishment goals at Trapper Mine. <br />The shrub re-establishment standard for Trapper Mine on range sites A and B will be a minimum of 400 <br />live stems per acre. Part of this standard will be accomplished through the establishment of mature shrub <br />clumps as described earlier. As the clumps are approximately 1,400 feet apart, the clumps will have an <br />area of influence of nearly 46 acres. A minimum of 250 mature shrub pads are transplanted in <br />4-116 Revision: ,nr2-16S <br />Approved: 7 L 0-