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L INTRODUCTION <br /> <br />This report presents the results of the baseline vegetation study for the West Elk Mine <br />Refuse Pile Expansion project (Colorado Division of Minerals and Geology permit C-80- <br />007). The West Elk Mine is owned and operated by Mountain Coal Company, a wholly <br />owned subsidiary of the Atlantic Richfield Company. Information in this report addresses <br />the native vegetative condition of the Refuse Pile Expansion azea (RPE) at the mine. <br />CDMG Rule 2.04.10 requires coal mine permittees to provide baseline pre-disturbance <br />vegetation information in the permit application which describes plant communities "in <br />terms of species composition, cover, productivity and woody plant density." This rule <br />further requires, "a discussion of envirottmental factors controlling or limiting distribution <br />of species such as elevation, slope aspect, soils, water availability and past management." <br />Delineation of plant communities is to be based on visually dominant perennial species. <br />Such baseline vegetation information is required for areas to be affected by surface <br />operations or facilities in the case of underground coal mines. <br />Mountain Coal Company is evaluating expansion of the existing Lower Refuse Pile to a <br />location east of Sylvester Gulch on the toe and sideslopes between Sylvester Gulch and <br />the unnamed gulch to the east. This expansion was not originally anticipated during the <br />initial permitting of the mine, therefore sampling of the undisturbed vegetation <br />communities present within the area proposed for disturbance has been required by <br />• CDMG. <br />Vegetation communities were identified through aerial photography and field <br />reconnaissance. Oakbrush dominates the north-northeast facing slope and toeslope. A <br />minor wetland community dominated by cottonwoods and willows is present in a relict <br />oxbow of the North Fork of the Gunnison River. Narrowleaf cottonwoods dominate a <br />minor cottonwood seep vegetation association adjacent to a bedrock seep on the slope of <br />the RPE area. Along the sandstone outcrops on the eastern portion of the RPE area <br />slope, a mixed conifer community is present . <br />• <br />Based on conversations and a field inspection with Mr. Tony Waldron of CDMG, a <br />sampling plan for vegetation communities at the RPE area was developed. Vegetation <br />sampling was performed in compliance with Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board <br />Surface Coal Mining Rules 2.04.10 and 4.15 and current botanical and plant ecological <br />methods. Vegetation field sampling was conducted between September 23 and 26, 1995 <br />by Savage and Savage, Inc. staff. <br />The West Elk Mine is located in Gunnison County and Delta County, Colorado, <br />approximately one (1) mile east of Somerset, Colorado and is accessed by Colorado State <br />Highway 133. Mountain Coal Company has operated the West Elk Mine for coal <br />extraction since 1982. <br />-1- <br />