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• <br />ERO Resources <br />(1) General Characteristics: <br />The Deserado Mine Permit Area is located approximately 10 miles northwest <br />of Rangely in Rio Blanco County, Colorado (Figure 2). Access to the 5,500 <br />acre site is via State Highway 64 and County Road 65. The permit area is <br />located in the Uintah Basin floristic section of the Intermountain West <br />region (Cronquist at al. 1972). This area is a cold desert region <br />dominated by open pinyon -juniper woodlands, sagebrush dominated shrublands <br />and patchy grassland inclusions. These predominant types occur as a <br />mosaic that conforms closely to the effects of the ridge and valley <br />topography in combination with soil influences and the effects of past and <br />present land use. <br />The climate of the permit area is semi -arid. Average annual precipitation <br />• is 203 to 229mm 18 to 9 inches). High wind speeds are common during the <br />fall, spring and early summer. Summers are short and dry. Daytime <br />temperatures can reach high values, but considerable diurnal variation can <br />occur. The frost -free seasons range from approximately 100 to 130 days. <br />Winters are long and cold, but generally open. Blizzards are not <br />infrequent, but tend to be short in duration. <br />Research on the vegetation of the Intermountain Region indicates that the <br />character of the ecosystem has undergone notable changes as the result of <br />settlement. Accounts as early as 1849 (Dittmar 1951) described the <br />pinyon -juniper ecosystem as "grassy plains and open parklike areas with <br />occasional scattered evergreen trees". An excellent, comprehensive review <br />of the history of the sagebrush/grasslands of the Great Basin including <br />Intermountain West since the 1950's is given by Young at al. (1979). <br />Young and his colleagues describe the degradation of the range as the <br />result of settlement and livestock grazing. These authors also describe <br />the alterations in system dynamics that have ensued. Significant points <br />• raised by Young that are germane to this study include: <br />II.F-12 <br />