The state owned land in the Gladstone and French Creek area is 98.2% 

 forested. Most (94.5%) of these forested acres are pole size or 

 larger trees, moderately stocked or better (greater than 50% canopy- 

 coverage) . Therefore, we can assume that vegetative cover is 

 present on much of the forested acreage in these drainages at this 

 time . 



Access is another key element of elk security. Currently, access is 

 controlled, by the landowners. Based upon personal conversations 

 with several of these landowners, very little hunting takes place in 

 these drainages. They also discourage access by the public for 

 safety, due to the urban interface nature of their private land. 

 The public can legally access the state land by foot from the Wolf 

 Creek County road, however most of the area immediately south of the 

 county road is steep with cliffs, a determent to high levels of 

 public use. Still, we must assume that some hunting takes place in 

 these drainages, and that legal elk encountered by these hunters may 

 be harvested. 



E . Noxious Weeds 



The primary noxious weed in the Gladstone area is spotted knapweed. 

 Existing infestations can be found along the county road in Section 

 14, on private lands in the French Creek area, spreading from French 

 Creek to the leased state land in Section 23, and scattered 

 occurrences along the existing roads in Gladstone Creek. 



The landowners in Gladstone Creek have used chemical control in the 

 past, thus limiting weed occurrences there. The French Creek 

 infestation is the most prominent at this time. The state's surface 

 grazing license holder has been in contact with the Department 

 regarding control actions which he is required to make on the 

 license area in Section 23. In the absence of an action 

 alternative, weed control on the grazing license area would remain 

 with the grazing license holder. 



If an action alternative is selected, which includes actions in the 

 infestation area{s), then the DNRC would file a site specific 

 management plan with the County Weed Board. This plan would most 

 likely include chemical weed control activities on areas prior to 

 site disturbances, such as road building. Biological control would 

 probably also be prescribed for other nearby areas. The weed plan 

 would include monitoring and treatment actions for the project area 

 so any new infestations could be treated and eradicated early. 



Equipment used on road and logging activities would be pressure 

 washed prior to delivery to the site to prevent the direct transport 

 of weed seeds. If equipment had to operate in areas of known 

 infestation, it would be required that it be washed on site, prior 

 to moving into weed free portions of the project area. 



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