2018-01-03_REVISION - C1994082 (29)

Home Browse Search

Seneca Property, LLC developed a wildlife monitoring and mitigation plan in conjunction with the Colorado Division of Wildlife (DOW) and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). Annual surveys conducted through August 2009 monitored; large game populations and use of reclaimed areas; raptor nesting in the permit area; presence and use of the mine area by sage grouse, Columbian sharp -tailed grouse, and blue grouse; and presence of any endangered or threatened species in the permit area. Short- and long-term impacts to wildlife identified in the permit application package relate to habitat loss. One of the post -mine land uses which the reclamation plan aims to reestablish is wildlife habitat. Habitat loss was mitigated by including measures to reestablish wildlife habitat during contemporaneous reclamation of disturbed areas, and by avoidance of impacts during operations. Those measures include * use of beneficial native plants in the reclamation seed mix, * establishment of shrub and/or tree islands to provide cover and roosting areas in the reclaimed areas, * establishment of rock and slash piles for cover and roosting areas in the reclaimed areas, * avoidance of disturbance in buffer zones in bottomlands, and * avoiding disturbance of active raptor nests in the disturbed area and/or relocating those nests. 1. The applicant has proposed the use of persistent pesticides on the site during mining and/or reclamation operations. One or more of seven herbicides listed in Table 22-11 of the permit application may be used to control noxious weeds in the mine area. The Division proposes to approve this usage. (4.18(5)(g)). 2. Fish and wildlife habitat is a planned post -mining land use. The applicant has selected appropriate plant species and distributions to benefit fish and wildlife. Refer to Section VIII of this document for additional discussion of the revegetation seed mix. (4.18(5)(i)). X. Operations on Alluvial Valley Floors Two alluvial valley floor (AVF) studies were performed on Sage Creek and Grassy Creek and their tributaries in the vicinity of the Yoast permit area. This information is found in Tab 16 of the permit application package. As a result of 1992-93 AVF studies, Seneca Property, LLC concluded there are no AVFs in the Grassy Creek watershed in hydrologic communication with the Yoast Mine. Based on information presented by the applicant; discussions with the Routt County office of the Natural Resource Conservation Service; interviews with farmers; and field reconnaissance, the Division agrees with the applicant's conclusion. No 33