PERMFILE68063

• Permit No: C1980007A
• IBM Index Class Name: Permit File
• Doc Date: 6/2/2006
• Section_Exhibit Name: 2.04 Application for Permit for Surface or Underground Mining Activities
• Media Type: D
• Archive: Yes

West Elk Mine
• the land uses described by the land management agencies or property owners responsible for
management and/or use of individual properties.
BLM managed lands north and northeast of West Ells Mine aze predominantly managed for coal
extraction and wildlife habitat (outside mining areas). These land uses aze identified as commercial
and wildlife habitat on the map, and correspond to Management Area 7.
BLM lands north of the Gunnison National Forest boundary and west of the private lands running
northwest-southeast through the permit area are contained in Management Unit 2. As with the
adjacent Gunnison National Forest lands, management focuses on maintenance and improvement
of winter range for deer, elk, pronghorn, and bighorn sheep populations. All other uses are
permitted, provided they do not degrade winter range capability.
Gunnison National Forest lands within and adjacent to the mine fall into three land use categories;
rangeland, wildlife habitat, and recreation. Rangelands managed for livestock grazing
(Management Area 6B) are found east of Minnesota Creek and north of Gunnison Creek to the
forest boundary. Recreation lands aze found southeast of Gunnison Creek within the West Elk
Wilderness Area and aze managed to enhance and emphasize "primitive recreation opportunities
requiring a high degree of isolation" (USFS, 1991}. In the forest area southwest of Minnesota
Creek, the USFS has designated the azea wildlife habitat, and prescribed the management emphasis
on maintaining winter range for ungulate wildlife.
• Interspersed with BLM and Gunnison National Forest lands on the western flank of the pernut azea
are many private land holdings. The predominant use of the private lands is for range and livestock
grazing. Several limited agricultural areas are found along Minnesota Creek and to the southwest of
Lion Mesa. To the northwest and north of the permit azea, land uses are mixed and include
residentiaU commercial (within the town of Somerset and adjacent areas), commerciaUmining
(Sanborn Creek Mine, Bear Mine), and rangeland (predominantly north of the North Fork of the
Gunnison River).
Surroundins Area Land Uses: Gunnison and Delta Counties
Urban land accounts for less than one percent of Gunnison County and approximately two percent
in Delta County (SCS, 1973). Aside from the small, unincorporated town of Somerset, which is
located in Gunnison County on the northern edge of the study area, the urban lands closest to the
pemut azea aze the towns of Paonia and Hotchkiss, both in Delta County. They aze located
approximately 9 and 17 air miles respectively, southwest of Somerset on the North Fork of the
Gunnison River.
While agriculture is of limited areal importance in Gunnison County as a whole, it is of greater
importance in Delta County, especially in the central portion. Only 5.4 percent of the lands in
the North Fork Sub-basin of the Gunnison River Basin is used for crops (Economic Research
Service, et al, 1962); however, agriculture is an important factor in the economics of the region.
In 1964, 45.6 percent of the land in Delta County and 10.3 percent of the land in Gunnison
County were in farmlands. In Delta County in 1964, 24 percent of the farmland was irrigated
and 60.6 percent of that land had crops harvested from it. Irrigated croplands extend up the
1.04-6 Revised Jwe 2006 PR/0; Rev. March 2006 ;Rev. Apri[ 2006 PR/0