warm and dry. If bears were using limited, shady, moist 

 microsites, they would have been particularly difficult to 

 observe during this period. Thirteen of the 25 bears were 

 observed from the air. In 84 percent of the observations, 

 the bears were above 910 m (3,000 feet). Four bears were 

 observed below this elevation in April and May. Greer and 

 Craig (1971) indicate that bears emerge from dens and seek 

 sprouting vegetation at low elevations, often along road 

 sides which have been seeded for erosion control. 



Twelve bears were observed in the subalpine fir series, 

 12 in the cedar-hemlock series and 1 was seen in the Douglas- 

 fir series (Appendices 12 and 13) . The majority of mining 

 activities are proposed for the TSHE/CLUN habitat type. This 

 habitat type would likely receive substantial spring use by 

 bears seeking early green-up because of its wide distribution 

 at low elevations on the study area. 



Since bear sign was not necessarily recent. Table 5 

 may not represent the month in which the sign was left. 

 Bear sign appeared to be evenly distributed at all elevations 

 and was most commonly observed in the ABLA (34 instances), 

 TSHE-THPL (29 instances) and ABGR series (11 instances) . 

 Although these figures partially reflect the amount of time 

 the author spent in a series and the distribution of a series 

 on the study area, it should be noted that ABGR habitat types 

 are not widely distributed over the study area nor did the 

 author spend a disproportionate amount of time in this 

 series, suggesting that bears may be selecting this series 

 for some of their needs. All 11 instances of sign recorded 

 in the ABGR/CLUN habitat type were noted on Stanley Mountain. 



Information collected by personnel of Olson-Elliott & 

 Associates (1977) indicated that the study area sustains a 

 high level of grizzly bear ( Ursus aratos hovvibilis ) food items. 

 Since black bears consume the majority of plant species 

 listed as grizzly bear food items by Mealey (1977), the 

 study area is also considered to have a high level of black 

 bear food items. Grizzly bear food availability in the 

 Mount Vernon area as assessed by Olson-Elliott & Associates 

 (19 77) indicates that the area has a high food habitat 

 quality rating (Mealey 1977) for a diverse group of habitats. 

 Although food availability is not likely to be limiting for 

 black bears, critical spring range may concentrate bears in 

 vulnerable situations which often occur along road rights-of- 

 way where green-up first occurs. 



Grizzly Bear 



During the period of data compilation for the Troy 

 Project Environmental Impact Statement, all threatened and 

 endangered species received special review by the KNF and 



36 



