2022-04-29_PERMIT FILE - C2010089 (9)

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Subsequent to the intensive vegetation surveys on the NHN area being sampled, it was determined that there would need to be a special equipment corridor wherein the existing mining equipment would be moved from the NI -12 mine, to the NHN permit area. Accordingly, a narrow strip of land has been added to the permit boundary to the south of Montrose County AA Road. Additional less intensive and more qualitative surveys were performed on these areas between August and November 2009. The vegetation boundaries in the equipment corridor were delineated using the GPS unit or by using the aerial photography generated by NHN. This is high resolution aerial photography and made the delineation of these vegetation types relatively simple. In addition, portions of the equipment corridor in the vicinity of Tuttle Draw, were formally mapped for the potential presence of potential jurisdictional wetlands as described above for the NHN mine expansion area. For the adjacent areas located within one half mile of the NHN permit boundary, these areas were primarily mapped using aerial photography. For those areas to the south of the equipment corridor which adjoins an area inside the existing NI -12 permit rea, the existing NI -12 Vegetation Map was utilized. Since this map does not include any vegetation mapping one half mile beyond the existing permit boundary, these areas were mapped using aerial photography. The existing NI -12 Vegetation Map was used for all vegetation boundaries within the existing NI -12 permit area. The Vegetation Guideline recommends that "vegetation type delineation should be based on existing, visually dominant species ..." However, for this site, this suggestion, does not always apply. For example, as is documented in the existing NI -12 permit application (Section 2.04.3), there is a considerable amount of overlap between vegetation types and land use patterns. In the areas mapped as Dryland and Irrigated Pasture, there are often localized areas with identical visually dominant species but which pertain to different land use categories. Thus, while there is normally a high deal of correlation between different assemblages of the same plants into vegetation types and land use, in some instances, similar assemblages of plants are mapped as different vegetation types and land uses depending on how they were being managed. Sample Adequacy A statistical summary of all of the data collected to characterize the plant cover, production, and shrub density is presented in Table 2.04.10-2. This comparison documents that a sufficient number of samples were collected to describe the parameters of total plant cover and perennial herbaceous production, excluding noxious weeds at the 90 percent confidence interval or until Section 2.04.10 Page 12 of 36 June 2016 (TR -14)