2020-08-21_GENERAL DOCUMENTS - C1994082

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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 various species of 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. 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)). 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 alluvial valley floors exist in the permit area or the adjacent Grassy Creek watershed which are in hydrologic communication with the Yoast Mine. As a result of 1990 AVF investigations in the Sage Creek watershed, Seneca Property, LLC concluded there are no AVFs in this basin in hydrologic communication with the Yoast Mine. The Division concluded that two areas along Sage Creek downstream from the Yoast permit met the regulatory definition of alluvial valley floors. These areas are discussed below. Sage Creek Reservoir Site Two fields located just upstream from the former Sage Creek Reservoir dam (Sections 13 and 18) are identified in the Yoast application as sub irrigated native wetlands and sub irrigated grass hay fields. The native wetland area is basically the area once covered by the reservoir, which failed in 1985. This area is currently used for grazing. The area immediately upstream from the former reservoir site is currently used as a grass hay field. 26