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6.13 Sagebrush Reference Area (Old Peabody Sage Reference Area) This reference area <br />was established in the initial permitting of the mine and was replaced by the new dryland <br />pasture reference area in 1999. In agreement with the Colorado Division of Reclamation, <br />Mining, and Safety (CDRMS), it was tested in the 1999 sampling program. The sagebrush <br />reference area represents remnants of native rangeland that has not been converted to the <br />more characteristic intensive agricultural land uses in the area. The acceptance of this <br />reference area during initial permitting indicates that it showed comparability with the baseline <br />sagebrush communities. The sagebrush reference area is located at SW1/4, NE1/4, Sec. 36, <br />T.47N., R.16W. between the old Peabody Mine Site to the north and New Horizon Mine 2 study <br />area to the south, and this parcel of land is owned and control by Western Fuels — Colorado <br />(WFC). The current NRCS soil survey shows this reference area on soil 78 (Pinon-Ustic <br />Torriorthents), which is one of the soils that SG -1 and SG -2 occur on. <br />The 1999 study of the sagebrush reference area indicated the following data. Total vegetation <br />cover (first hit) for the type averaged 36.0 percent, with bare ground at 32.5 percent, litter at <br />19.9 percent, and rock outcrop and rock fragments at 11.6 percent (Table 2.04.10-27). Lichen <br />and moss accounted for 4.6 percent of the mean cover. The shrub component dominated with <br />14.4 percent cover followed by the perennial grass component at 11.9 percent cover. Annual <br />grasses account for 4.1 and 2.6 percent cover. Succulents had 0.1 percent cover and trees <br />had 0.9 percent cover. Consistent with the type designation, sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) <br />had the highest perennial shrub species cover at 12.2 percent (68 percent frequency), followed <br />by broom snakeweed with cover at 1.9 percent (8 percent frequency). The perennial grass blue <br />grama had 7.4 percent cover (33 percent frequency) and needlegrass with 2.9 percent cover (9 <br />percent frequency). <br />February 2015 (TR -66) 2.04.10-83 <br />