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Seneca Il Mine <br />SL -6 Phase 111 Bond Release Request <br />June 2014 <br />The Seneca II Mine provides excellent habitat for a number of wildlife species, and in particular, <br />elk and mule deer make common use of the reclaimed areas. Large numbers of deer and elk can <br />be observed in the reclaimed areas throughout the year. The reclaimed areas provide beneficial <br />nutritional forage sources throughout the year but especially in the spring and early summer as <br />the elk and mule deer complete gestation and move to lactation cycles. Raptors including red - <br />tailed hawks and golden eagles nest and hunt in the area and other raptors such as northern <br />harriers and Swainson's hawks that prefer more grassland or grass shrubland habitat have been <br />observed in reclaimed areas in past studies and monitoring. The reclaimed areas are trending <br />towards a sagebrush grassland / shrubland habitat and species with an affinity to that habit type <br />are present in these reclaimed areas. Columbian sharp - tailed grouse CSTG) have established four <br />active leks on the adjacent and similar PSCM reclaimed lands and these leks are monitored <br />annually. The 2013 counts for the four leks totaled 66 CSTG with the lowest count lek having 14 <br />CSTG and the highest with 23 CSTG. This species can be expected to use the similar <br />reclamation on Seneca II at some time in the future if not already. <br />Permanent Infrastructure Documentation <br />Roads. Several roads were approved as permanent features for the Seneca II Mine under <br />Technical Revision 37 (IR -37) approved in September 2006 and included with PR -02 in <br />December 2010. The following segments for the approved roads occur within or adjacent to the <br />current Seneca II permit area: <br />Road E1 — 2898 feet (adjacent) <br />Road C — 3396 feet <br />Road F —1316 feet (adjacent) <br />South Road — 2392 feet <br />South Road Spur to Pond 008 —1175 feet <br />These roads are necessary to continue support of the postmining land uses. <br />Permanent Impoundments. Sedimentation pond 008 was approved as a permanent <br />impoundment in Seneca II Mine Technical Revision 37 (TR -37) in September 2006 and also <br />included as part of PR -2 in December 2010. The documentation supporting the designation of <br />Pond 008 as a permanent impoundment is contained in the Seneca II permit document in <br />25 <br />