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• <br />• <br />Section 2.05.6(2) <br />Fish And Wildlife Plan <br />New Horizon 2 Area <br />Introduction <br />The Fish and Wildlife Plan presented below is based on baseline information presented in Section <br />2.04.11, Fish and Wildlife Resources Information and the various regulatory requirements of the <br />approved Colorado Regulatory Program for surface mining. The plan is designed to minimize or <br />mitigate mining impacts to the wildlife populations of the area and provide where practicable the <br />enhancement of habitat and other resources. <br />The premining land use (Section 2.04.3, Site Description and Land Use Information) and proposed <br />postmining land use (Section 2.05.4(2)(e) Revegetation) is agriculture. Wildlife use of the permit <br />occurs simultaneously with agricultural activities, though no specific habitat has been enhanced <br />for their benefit. No habitat critical to the continued existence of any Federal or State listed <br />Threatened or Endangered species is present in the permit area. Plants of special concern were <br />addressed in Section 2.04.10. However, two habitats of relative importance to several wildlife <br />species occur within the permit area which are a result of or directly related to agriculture. These <br />are the swale areas supporting willow and cattail growth and the farmsteads and orchards (see <br />Section 2.04.11). Within the context of the postmine land use, the reclamation objectives will return <br />irrigated and dryland pasture in the permit area. <br />Baseline Studies <br />Baseline studies for vegetation and wildlife were conducted in 1979 (Mariah,1979). Development <br />of the scope of work for these studies included consultation with the Colorado Division of Minerals <br />and Geology (CDMG) and OSM. Detailed results of the studies for the permit area are presented <br />in Sections 2.04.10 and 2.04.11. A brief summary of the studies follows. <br />Habitats found on the permit area include: agriculture, grassland, juniper, riparian and upland <br />sage. A farmstead and associated disturbed ground are also found in the permit area. A brief <br />description of each type follows: <br />1. Upland sagebrush - Artemisia tridentata (big sagebrush) dominated communities occurring <br />on well -drained slopes that because of shallow soils have not been converted to agricultural <br />production. <br />(Revised March 2006) <br />2.05.6(2)-3 <br />