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drought experienced in 2001 and 2002 had no more than a minor effect on the wetlands. <br />Included in this section are a few other 2003 photographs of portions of the recovering <br />wetlands that were photographed in 2003. <br />The second series provides a tour of the stream channel from the county line north to <br />Quincy. At each location two photographs were taken. One looking upstream and the other <br />downstream. Some of these images are labeled to show particularly important features. Each <br />of these photographs are keyed to a map (Map 2 in the map folder at the back of this report) <br />that shows numbered photo locations. Using this tour it is possible to gain a good picture of <br />the variations within the drainage and the surrounding environment. All of these images were <br />taken in 2002. If the surrounding hills look a bit barren, brown, and baked it is because these <br />images were taken at the peak of the drought. The prairie was barren, brown and baked in <br />2002. In July and August of 2002 it was difficult to find anything growing outside of the <br />stream corridor. <br />Finally there are some maps. Two maps (located at the end of this report and before the <br />photographs) show the details in each of the wetland mitigation sites. Last is a map that is <br />similar to the "tour" map but without the photo locations. This map (Map 1 in the map folder <br />at the back of this report) shows the locations of the major recovering or recovered wetlands <br />within the land that was mined at one time or another. A few of the natural wetlands are <br />shown on this map that are near mined areas. The best natural wetlands are shown in "Point <br />Images" 1 through 5 in the stream tour photographs. <br />Grazing Impacts Reduced in 2003 <br />In early 2003, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) performed an <br />inspection of this portion of the Lowry Range Property. The letter sent to the Colorado Board <br />of Land Commissioners was critical of the intense overgrazing of the rangelands on the <br />surrounding hills. They recommended that the cattle be removed For at least a year to allow <br />some recovery of the rangeland. In the summer of 2003, the grazing lessee was ordered to <br />remove most of his cattle from the land to allow the rangeland to recover. A combination of <br />good moisture and the reduction in the cattle produced a marked improvement in the <br />vegetation cover of the rangeland, but the negative effects of overgrazing became very <br />apparent in July. Large areas turned yellow with sunflowers. Other weedy annual, biennial, <br />and perennial species were also found in abundance. <br />The most significant improvement in the vegetation occurred in the recovering <br />wetlands (outside of the fenced mitigation sites). Cattle trails across wetlands all but vanished <br />and the growth in many areas flourished even though rainfall was scant in July and the <br />temperatures unusually high day after day. Also humidity was usually low and dry winds <br />common. In July 2003 the local weather returned to a pattern not unlike that seen in July <br />Coal Creek Wetlands and Wetland Mitigation DA Permit 198811488 August 2003 Page 8 of 23 <br />