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L <br />2. Vegetative characteristics <br />a. Availability of important browse species <br />b. Protection offered by shrub density and shrub height <br />3. Weather patterns <br />a. Potential of site to accumulate deep snow during winter <br />b. Exposure of site to prevailing wind <br />4. Availability of water <br />MAMMALIAN PREDATOR SURVEY <br />Mammalian predators were surveyed during October; 1979 by the scent - station <br />visitation technique (see Results, page 40). The United States Fish and <br />Wildlife Service (USEWS) has used this survey method for the past eight years <br />to determine indices'of predator abundance in the western United States. <br />The scent-station visitation technique was developed in New or state by <br />Cook (1949), who suggested that records of fox sign at scent posts provided <br />a practical index to the relative abundance of foxes between areas and from <br />year to year. The scent-station visitation technique has been standardized by <br />the Denver Wildlife Research Center (Linhart and'Knowlton 1973) and has been <br />used each year since 1972 to survey predators in 17 western states. The results <br />of this program, including statistical analysis, are available fxson the Denver <br />Wildlife Research Center and were compared to data gathered at the project site <br />to determine predator abundance indices. <br />The scent - station visitation technique consists of a survey route comprised <br />of 50 scent stations, located 0.3 mi. apart. Due to the small area encompassed <br />by the Nucla Mine study area, the number of stations in the predator survey <br />line was reduced to 45. This was the maximum number of stations that could be <br />spaced at 0.3 mi intervals traversing all vegetation and topographic types on <br />or within 2 miles of the study area. <br />-9- <br />JUN! 1 1 19E3Q <br />