Laserfiche WebLink
• Lorrnn:u Cam~an If:nr - t'e¢rrnrio~: rtciw:[~i Rr,vm <br />obtained for associated hav meadows. but [he Land Use section discusses county production <br />averages and estimates for hay and forage production. <br />PinyonlJuniper Woodland <br />Pinyon pine (Pines edulisj, Utah juniper (Juniperus osteospenna), and one-seed juniper (Junipen~s <br />monospentta) dominate dry mountain escarpments and low mesas and plateaus. Juniper seems <br />limited in the permit area, bu[ is much more dominant [o the north. A sparse understory of <br />grasses and torbs is present. No pinyon/juniper woodland occurs within the proposed disturbance <br />areas. Consequently, this community was not quantitatively sampled. <br />Quantitative Sampling Results <br />Quantitative sampling resul[s of disturbance and reference areas is presented in this section. <br />Transect locations of sampled areas are shown on it'Iaps V-1 to V-~t. Four vegetation cotnmunin <br />types, including oak/pinyon, grassland, riparian, and hay meadow, were iden[ified within the <br />proposed disturbance areas. Disturbance to riparian habitat is limited to creek crossings in <br />Lorencito Creek and no sampling was conducted. The hay meadow mould be disturbed by <br />railroad spur and access road up_rades. This disturbance would be less [han one acre and <br />therefore no quantitative sampling was conducted. Disturbance was originally proposed in the <br />coniferous forest community, however, these facilities are not currently proposed. Sampling was <br />conducted and the data are presented for future use as necessary. Grassland and oak pinyon <br />sampling data are provided in the following sections. The mountain shrub and pinyon/juniper <br />communities will be quantitatively sampled prior to mine related disturbance. <br />Grassland Disturbed Area <br />Within the permit area, grassland study areas were located in the proposed surface mine area, <br />Portal P3, and Portal P2. Dominant perennial grasses included blue srama and western <br />wheatgrass (Agropyron smithii) at 14.8 and 2 percent cover, respectively. Common perennial <br />fortis included trailing fleabane (Erigeron f lagellaris) and fringed sage (Artemisia frigida). Broom <br />snakeweed (Gutierrezia sarothrae) was the dominant subshrub hit during the cover measurements. <br />Litter comprised roughly ~0 percent of the en[ire transect cover. Rock comprised a minimal <br />amount of the overall cover, while bare ground covered about 19 percent of the total cover. <br />Statistically for cover, this area meets the criteria of being at feast 90 percent similar to the <br />reference area. Table V-2 summarizes the grass]and raw quantitative da[a from Tables V-3 to V- <br />6. <br />Shrub density for this study area was calculated to be 96 woody stems per hectare. Winteriat and <br />Gambel oak were the dominant woody shrubs with 0.4 absolute mean density each. <br />Production in the study area grassland totaled 122.36 pounds per acre. This measurement was <br />. found to be within a 90% confidence interval for production when compared to the reference area. <br />~~~_ a-:. o~~~•~~~n~~: ~~. u•„„ 7 (2vised 61.0!9?) <br />