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RULE 2 PERMITS <br /> <br />Rule 2 Permits 2.04-58 Revision Date: 6/4/25 <br /> Revision No.: MR-264 <br />The report provides an inventory of site specific and regional wildlife resources of the Danforth 1 <br />and 3 Federal Coal Leases and vicinity and was complete April 1984 through June 1985. Existing <br />background information was complemented by a year-long program of site-specific field studies. <br /> <br />Although the focus of the study is of a much broader regional scale than necessary for areas to be <br />mined by Colowyo, it offers very valuable information to update the original baseline information <br />in the initial Colowyo permit. In most cases the report serves to reconfirm many of the predictions <br />initially made by Colowyo regarding the impacts of mining to local wildlife populations. <br /> <br />Colowyo has made every effort to coordinate all studies, management techniques, and habitat <br />improvement programs with the State and Federal agencies having responsibility for managing <br />wildlife habitat. Several meetings were held with USFWS and CPW personnel during 1979 and <br />1980 to discuss any additional resource information that is available and also to assess the <br />management techniques employed by Colowyo. CPW personnel were contacted November, 1990 <br />regarding any significant updates on their Wildlife Value Maps. Map 14, (now Maps 13B and <br />15B) was updated and reflects these changes. <br /> <br />The following wildlife resource information has been developed from five years of observations, <br />site specific analysis, existing literature, contracts with wildlife biologists at other mines in <br />northwest Colowyo, and numerous contacts with State and Federal Wildlife officials. Most of the <br />following information remains virtually unchanged as submitted initially in the First Colowyo <br />Permit Application. Notations are made where necessary to refer the reader to substantially <br />updated information in the CDM November, 1985 report. <br /> <br />Wildlife Habitat Use Study <br /> <br />Colowyo initiated a revegetation and wildlife habitat use study in 1974 to determine the feasibility <br />and techniques of revegetating with native shrub revegetation adapted to the mine site. The study <br />consisted of two separate but closely coordinated areas. The main objective of the revegetation test <br />plot study was to determine the most cost effective and successful methods of establishing mature <br />shrubs. The revegetation test plot study is set forth in Exhibit 10, Vegetation Information. The <br />wildlife habitat use study was designed to determine the condition, trends, and seasonal use <br />characteristics within the anticipated areas of disturbance. <br /> <br />Large Mammals <br /> <br />The wildlife habitat use study was primarily oriented towards evaluating the use of the mine site <br />and surrounding area by big game, i.e., deer and elk. The study which was conducted by VTN, <br />consisted of aerial and ground observations, browse utilization studies, and pellet group transects. <br />Specifically the studies were directed towards providing the following information: <br /> <br />(1) Seasonal habitat use patterns by deer, elk, and cattle and competition for browse between <br />these species. <br /> <br />(2) Condition of range and browse and trends in the habitat carrying capacity (i.e., increasing <br />or decreasing).