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• sagebrush and agricultural flatlands, to riparian areas along <br />rivers and streams (all of which are influenced by elevation, <br />topography, vegetation and land use). Seven distinctive ter- <br />restrial habitats have been identified on the mine site. Mountain <br />shrub (a mixture of oak and serviceberry) covers the steep slopes <br />of the Hogback and is the predominant habitat of the area. Fingers <br />of pinyon-juniper cover the canyon areas. Small parcels of Douglas <br />fir are located in the higher elevations on the north-facing slopes <br />in the eastern portion of the site. Sagebrush scrubland occurs in <br />the flatter areas at the base of the Hogback and is the primary <br />vegetation type to be disturbed by surface facilities. Narrow <br />bands of riparian/wetland habitat occur along the Colorado River <br />and South Canyon and Alkali Creeks. Agricultural lands occur <br />within the valley bottoms. Urban habitat is located within the <br />communities of Glenwood Springs, New Castle, and to some extent, <br />within the River Bend Subdivision adjacent to the proposed surface <br />facilities. <br />• The primary terrestrial wildlife habitats to be disturbed by the <br />proposed project include primarily sagebrush and pinyon-juniper. <br />Utilization of these habitats range from feeding to resting areas. <br />These habitats are not considered to be of high interest, unique to <br />the area, or critical for any area wildlife as an abundance of this <br />habitat exists in the area. <br />Aquatic resources in the area exist within the Colorado River, <br />South Canyon and Alkali Creeks, and small stock ponds on Alkali <br />Creek. These resources provide a variety of aquatic habitat <br />ranging from a swift-moving large river system to shallow small <br />pond areas. The major resource of the area is the Colorado River. <br />In the surface facilities area, the river is approximately 180 feet <br />wide with an average depth of 3 feet and average gradient of 0.3 <br />percent. Bottom type is primarily rock and gravel with shallow <br />backwater areas of sand and silt. Much of this section has been <br />affected by natural bank degradation limiting aquatic and over- <br />. hanging vegetation. This section of the river is also considered <br />NCEC - Coal Ridge #1 3-77 ASC/1145/900301 <br />