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2.04.10 Vegetation Information <br />During the initial permitting, the Carbon Junction Mine proposed to disturb five <br />vegetation communities; mountain shrubland, pinyon juniper woodland, pinyon juniper <br />caprock woodland, old field, and agricultural fields. <br />Baseline vegetation sampling took place in several phases at the Carbon Junction Mine. <br />Initial baseline vegetation information submitted with the permit application was not <br />acceptable to CDRMS. Prior to disturbance, additional baseline vegetation information <br />was collected. In 1982, quantitative old field and agricultural vegetation information was <br />collected by Pioneer Engineering and Pueblo Coal. During 1983, Western Resource <br />Development collected quantitative information on three additional vegetation <br />communities; mountain shrubland, pinyon juniper woodland, and pinyon juniper caprock <br />woodland. Reference areas were selected and established for the mountain shrubland and <br />pinyon juniper vegetation communities. A separate reference area was not established <br />for the pinyon juniper caprock woodland, as this community was considered a phase of <br />the pinyon juniper woodland. Separate revegetation success standards were to be <br />developed for this community phase from the pinyon juniper woodland reference area. <br />The old field was originally slated to be returned to a wheat field, where the agricultural <br />production standards would apply. Results of the vegetation baseline sampling are <br />contained in the summary reports and tables within Appendix 4-6. A vegetation <br />community map of the permit and adjacent area has been included on Map 4-6. This map <br />shows the locations of randomly selected transects within the old field. The vegetation <br />map includes sufficient area beyond the permit area to allow evaluation of vegetation as <br />important habitat for fish and wildlife. <br />A rare and endangered plant species survey was conducted in the spring of 1983. No rare <br />or endangered species more found to exist in the disturbed area. See Appendix 4-6. <br />The baseline vegetation information is provided as a historical perspective. With the <br />approval of Technical Revision 05 in 1996, the post -mining land uses were changed from <br />wildlife habitat and cropland to industrial and commercial, recreation, and residential. <br />With this change, the revegetation success criteria changed, consistent with those for the <br />revised post -mining land uses. <br />In 2014, OEI and CPRMS recognized the need to revise the primary post -mining land <br />use, as the anticipated development had not materialized in the years since 1996. After <br />discussions and site visits, OEI and CDRMS agreed to revise the primary post -mining <br />land use to dryland pasture, a land use that has been implemented throughout the coal <br />permit area, and is consistent with surface landowner management goals and the goals <br />and implementation of the approved reclamation plan between 2006 and 2009. <br />To develop revegetation success standards for the revised post -mining land use, OEI and <br />CDRMS established a dryland pasture reference area on an undisturbed area south and <br />east of the former coal mining operational area. The reference area was quantitatively <br />sampled for the vegetation parameters of cover, total herbaceous production, and species <br />Abridged Permit Document 4-18 Permit Revision PROI 9/2014 <br />