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Cross Gold Mine <br />December 2024 J-2 <br /> <br /> <br />centaureae) and wild strawberry. The only weed noted includes scattered small populations of Canada <br />thistle (Breea arvensis) at the community edges where it grades into more mesic areas. <br />Scattered, low-growing shrubs include Wood's rose, shrubby cinquefoil, broom huckleberry and <br />common juniper (Juniperus communis). Occasional clumps of Scouler' s willow (Salix scouleriana) also <br />occur in the upland meadow. <br /> <br />This community more closely resembles the upland meadow areas. However, the plant community has <br />been modified in response to surface disturbances caused by human activities such as livestock <br />grazing and construction. Fewer native species occur in these areas, which are notably dominated by <br />planted pasture or reclamation grasses such as smooth brome, Timothy, and Kentucky bluegrass (Poa <br />pratensis). <br /> <br />These areas appear to be locations where the native plant community has been completely removed <br />during human activities and replaced by planted pasture and reclamation grasses such as smooth <br />brome, mountain brome, Timothy, and Kentucky bluegrass. <br /> <br />This feature supports a few trees and shrubs including subalpine fir, Englemann spruce, lodgepole, <br />limber pine, and broom huckleberry (Vaccinium scoparium). Forbs such as pussytoes and golden <br />banner (I'hermopsis montana) were also present. <br /> <br />Spruce/fir woodland community is characterized by a dense Englemann spruce and subalpine fir <br />canopy with a sparse understory of shrubs including broom huckleberry, twinberry honeysuckle <br />(Lonicera involucrata), fireweed (Chamerion danielsii), whisk broom parsley (Harbouria trachypleura), <br />and heartleaf arnica (Arnica cordifolia). <br /> <br />The willow/spruce/fir woodland represents an intermediate community that grades into both the <br />spruce/fir woodland as well as the willow woodland. The canopy is dominated by a number of willow <br />species including Geyer (Salix geyeriana), planeleaf (S. planifolia), mountain (S. montana), and <br />sandbar (S. exigua) intermixed with Colorado blue spruce (Picea pungens) and subalpine fir. This <br />community also supports a diverse shrub story with dense stands of thin-leaf alder (A/nus incana <br />subsp. Tenuifolia) and bog birch (Betula pumila) as well as wax currant (Ribes cereum), prickly currant <br />(R. lacustre), twinberry honeysuckle and Wood's rose. A lush herbaceous understory includes wild <br />strawberry, wild geranium, large-leaved avens (Geum macrophyllum), yellow bedstraw (Galium verum), <br />bluebells (Mertensia ciliata), dandelion (J'araxacum officinale), clover (J'rifolium spp.), and death camas <br />(Zigadenus venenosus).