area. Region One Fish, Wildlife and Parks data files and 

 other pertinent literature were reviewed for background and 

 incorporation , 



FIESULTS 

 M ammals 



Big Game 



Ungulates 



Ungulates observed on the study area during the April 

 19 77 through July 19 78 report period include: moose, elk, 

 mule deer, white-tailed deer, bighorn sheep and mountain 

 goat. Observations and sign of these ungulates were recorded 

 during walking, driving and aerial surveys. Although the 

 major emphasis of the aerial surveys was directed toward lo- 

 cating and classifying mountain goats, the majority of elk 

 and moose observations were also recorded from the air. 



Three ungulate browse transects were established to 

 meet contract requirements. Browse transects on ungulate 

 winter range have been used to document yearly trends in 

 browse utilization (Cole 1960) and, therefore, they were 

 thought to provide an insight into the carrying capacity of 

 the range in relation to existing ungulate populations. 

 However, several researchers (Mackie and Lonner 1977, and 

 Jorgensen et al . 19 77) indicate that standard browse tran- 

 sect methods are of limited value in this respect. 



Appendix 1 presents location information of the Copper 

 Mountain, Keeler Mountain and Ross Creek browse transects. 

 Aerial and ground reconnaissance during this investigation 

 revealed that the Copper Mountain transect was utilized 

 primarily by deer and moose, the Keeler Mountain transect 

 was utilized by moose and elk and the Ross Creek transect 

 was utilized by deer and elk. 



In order to establish habitat selection by wildlife, 

 it would be necessary to determine the availability of 

 each habitat component (percentage of the study area at 

 different elevations, aspects, habitat types). It would 

 also be necessary to systematically and regularly inventory 

 each of the habitat components to determine wildlife utili- 

 zation. Time constraints and diversity of wildlife on the 

 study area did not allow this type of analysis. However, 

 ungulate habitat utilization between different species can 

 be established if it is assiomed that the likelihood of ob- 

 serving each species is equal. Moose, elk, mule deer and 

 white-tailed deer habitat use data were collected from 



14 



