| OCR Text |
Show the most significant losses of habitat. The habitat evaluations provided by State and Federal biologists distinguished between summer and winter habitat only for deer and pheasants. The losses of deer winter habitat are the 3,000 acres inundated by Starvation Reservoir and the 500 acres that would be inundated by Hayes Reservoir. The presently unevaluated 4,900 acres of land that would be inundated by Jordanelle and Lampton Reservoirs would be expected to contain additional winter habitat. The State Division of Wildlife Resources has divided Utah into " Deer Herd Areas" and subdivided each of these units into acreages of summer and winter habitat. 121 Within the State, there are presently about 17,000 square miles of Federal and State- owned land that is considered to be winter range for deer. An additional 14,000 square miles is classified as summer habitat. Carrying this type of analysis further there are about 2,700 square miles of winter range and 3,500 square miles of sunnier range located within the Bonneville Unit area. The Bonneville Unit would eliminate about 30 square miles of deer habitat of which about 6 square miles would be winter range. Compared to the total amount of deer habitat remaining in the State the estimated loss would not be significant. While the amount of moose habitat lost ( 810 acres) would be very small the adverse impact of the loss on the State's moose population would be more significant. Field studies indicate that this species is attempting to extend the natural boundaries of its geographic distribution southward from the north slope of the Uinta Mountains. Loss of 810 acres of good habitat, particularly in the Rock Creek- Currant Creek drainages, might restrict the expansion process and dalay the natural establishment of permanent herds in the limited habitat available within the central portion of Utah. It is difficult to evaluate the broad impacts that the Bonneville Unit would have on the pheasant population. Pheasant distribution |
