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The aspen communities occur primarily on northwest facing slopes at elevations above 7,400 feet in <br /> the South Taylor Pit area of the Mine. Large continuous stands of aspen occurred along the upper <br /> portions of the West Fork of the Good Spring Creek in Sections 6, 31 and 32 and on the slopes <br /> leading to the East Fork of Wilson Creek in Sections 19 and 20. Aspen accounted for 13.6 percent <br /> of the vegetation in the Danforth Hills study area. In the South Taylor Pit disturbance area, aspen <br /> communities account for approximately 15 percent of the disturbed area. These aspen communities <br /> are concentrated, ranging in size from approximately one acre to 122 acres. The individual <br /> communities are shown on Map 4 and 4C of the PAP. More information regarding the aspen <br /> communities can be found in Volumes 12 and 15, Section 2.04.10 and in Exhibit 10, Item 5 of the <br /> PAP. <br /> 3.6 Land Use <br /> Land use information is found in Sections 2.04.3, 2.05.5, and 4.16 (Volume 1 for the East Pit, West <br /> Pit, Section 16 Pit, Facilities Area and Gossard Loadout;Volume 12 for South Taylor Pit;Volume 15 <br /> for Collom Pit) and Map 17 of the PAP. The land use of reclaimed lands is rangeland (4.16, PAP). <br /> Wildlife habitat is incidental to reclaimed rangeland as described below under Wildlife. Prior land <br /> uses within the permit area were primarily rangeland and wildlife habitat, with some agriculture (not <br /> disturbed by the mining activity). Land uses in adjacent areas are primarily rangeland and wildlife <br /> habitat. There is some dryland farming on level uplands and small areas of irrigated pasture and <br /> hayland along stream courses in the general area. <br /> Rangeland on the permit area is characterized as good condition sagebrush and mountain shrub range <br /> that, in the past,was variously grazed by either sheep or cattle during the spring, summer or fall. The <br /> rangeland also supports substantial populations of mule deer, elk, sage grouse, golden eagles and <br /> numerous other wildlife species at various times throughout the year. With the approval of PR-05, a <br /> post mining land use of `industrial' will be added to the permit for areas near the Gossard Loadout <br /> and Moffat CR 51. Post mine land use will support wildlife and livestock utilization and <br /> infrastructure for a future water treatment facility. <br /> 3.7 Wildlife <br /> Measures to protect wildlife and related environmental values are presented in Section 4.18 in <br /> Volumes 1, 12, and 15 of the PAP. No threatened or endangered species have been identified in the <br /> permit area. No critical habitat for any such species is known to exist within the permit area. Herds <br /> of deer and elk are regularly seen grazing on the reclaimed area, most notably during the winter. <br /> Rodent and small game populations have reestablished on reclaimed areas and small birds and raptors <br /> are numerous on reclaimed and adjacent undisturbed areas. <br /> 4. Description of the Operations and Reclamation Plans <br /> 4.1.1 Operations Plan <br /> Mining Activity <br /> 19 <br /> Permit Revision No.5(PR-05),G 1981-019 <br />