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RULE 2 PERMITS <br /> <br />Rule 2 Permits 2.05-31 Revision Date: 3/7/25 <br /> Revision No.: TR-166 <br />occurs. Depending on snow depth, elk and deer populations tend to concentrate on south facing <br />hill slope areas where snow depth is minimal. <br /> <br />Colowyo began fencing the boundaries of the Federal lease during the fall of 1976. The fencing <br />was completed during the summer of 1977. At this time all cattle were removed from the lease <br />area. The fencing was completed as part of an overall grazing management program to improve <br />the rangeland after several years of over-grazing. In 1991, Colowyo constructed a similar fence <br />to provide a boundary for the areas added to the Permit and to exclude grazing in this area. <br /> <br />Disturbed Areas <br /> <br />Disturbed acreage has been kept to a minimum in the permit area by proper planning for the <br />location of mine support facilities, haul roads, and pit advance. The mining methods, as discussed <br />in Section 2.05.3, allow for a minimum amount of disturbance on an annual basis (less than 100 <br />acres per pit), when compared to strictly one or two seam mines with similar production levels <br />which disturb several hundred acres annually per pit. Topsoil and vegetation are removed during <br />the summer and fall months to allow for only enough disturbance to facilitate mining advance <br />through June of the following year. <br /> <br />Habitat Improvement Program <br /> <br />Prior to start-up of mining, Colowyo initiated a big game habitat improvement program in January <br />1976. The purpose of this on-going program was to increase range carrying capacity by increasing <br />available browse and increased access to herbaceous species. Another objective of the program <br />was to provide increased forage on selected undisturbed areas on and adjacent to the mine site to <br />draw wildlife away from newly reclaimed areas until the vegetation became established. A third <br />benefit was to improve enough habitat prior to and during mining in order to offset the temporary <br />loss of habitat from mining. <br /> <br />The technique for habitat improvement involved using a rubber tired or tracked dozer during the <br />winter months, preferably when there was minimal snow cover and the ground was frozen, to shear <br />off the dormant shrubs a few inches above ground level. <br /> <br />The shrubs tended to shear or break off easily when the ground was frozen leaving the root systems <br />undisturbed. During the following spring, vigorous new growth from root sprouting occurred, and <br />easy access was provided for deer and elk. This technique has had the additional effect of allowing <br />grasses and forbs to establish stands that will compete with the shrubs, thus prolonging heights <br />useable by wildlife. Approximately 30 acres of overmature decadent shrubs, i.e., serviceberry, <br />oak, and chokecherry was “brushed” on an annual basis through 1986. <br /> <br />Although no specific data has been collected on these areas, general observations have shown that <br />the areas are heavily utilized by both deer and elk. On all of the areas, any new shrub sprouting is <br />kept down to a height of only a few inches. The one-acre plot that was cleared of vegetation and <br />fenced in 1977 for testing by the Meeker Environmental Plant Center can be used as a good <br />comparison of the differences between browsed and unbrowsed areas that have had similar <br />treatments. Several of the unbrowsed shrubs that have grown up from root sprouting in the Plant