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Soils <br />Soils in the exploration area are mainly derived from the Mesa Verde and Wasatch Formations <br />and have relatively high clay content. By limiting the size of drill sites and retaining topsoil for <br />reclamation purposes, revegetation success should not be a problem in this area. The revegetation <br />of previous drill sites has been very successful within adjacent exploration areas. <br />"Soils information and technical data were taken for the following soil survey completed for the <br />project area. An Order III soil survey, entitled Soil Survey of Grand Mesa -West Elk Area (fryer <br />and Hughes, 1997) was used to characterize and describe the soils overlying that portion of the <br />project area administered by the Forest Service. This survey each contains soil maps depicting the <br />aerial extent of the soils delineated as well as map unit descriptions, typical pedon descriptions, <br />and interpretation tables which were used to develop the text below. No site-specific soil baseline <br />studies were conducted for the modification area as part of this project. <br />Soils in the project area have developed from a combination of residual, colluvial, and alluvial <br />materials derived from local bedrock. The soil survey identified and described six map units within <br />the tract. The map unit name, percentage coverage within the modification area, dominant soil <br />series and attendant percent map unit composition, relative depth, hazard classification (water <br />erosion, shrink swell, and mass movement), are considerations as described in the soil survey are <br />shown in Table 3.6." Final Environmental Impact Statement, Federal Coal Lease Modifications <br />COC -1362 and CDC -67232, pages 98-100, August 2012. <br />PIMFIRM <br />The exploration area is an important range for deer, elk, and bear. Other animals in the exploration <br />area include coyote, rabbit, porcupine, beaver, squirrel, mice and other rodents. The proposed <br />exploration will be conducted to avoid conflicts as much as possible with the deer and elk on winter <br />range and user conflict during big game hunting season. Operations will be located such as to not <br />interfere with active raptor nesting sites, including nests of golden and bald eagles and Peregrine <br />falcon. <br />Threatened or Endangered Species <br />"A Forest species list was provided by the US Fish and Wildlife Service on 9 May 2008 (USDI <br />2008b). There is only one federally -listed species that has the potential to be found in the project <br />area, the Canada lynx. Other species considered are shown in Table 3.9 (incorporated by <br />reference). As these species do not occur in the project area and no habitat for them will be <br />impacted by the project, these species were not further analyzed in this document." <br />"Canada lynx: <br />The roads and pads (referring to mine ventilation boreholes (MVB) but also applies to temporary <br />roads and pads for exploration) will result in complete loss of habitat within the footprint of the <br />same (pads of approximately 1 acre in size and road widths averaging 30') for the life of the project. <br />After the mining is complete, these areas will be re-contoured and revegetated with grasses and <br />forbs for erosion control in the short term, and are expected to revegetate to types consistent with <br />their pre -disturbance condition in the long-term. The project will therefore not remove habitat <br />permanently from the landscape, but will remove it in the short- and mid-term, certainly within <br />lifetimes of both lynx and their primary prey." <br />