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<br /> <br />RIPARIAN INVENTORY <br />The Army Corps of Engineers, Colorado Division of Wildlife, and Eagle County have <br />expressed concerns to B&B Excavating and Greg L.ewicki and Associates over the <br />presence of "riparian" areas or communities within the study area. Riparian areas (in <br />general) have been deemed to have intrinsically high value for wildlife species, and <br />therefore any project which disturbs or alters riparian communities is scrutinized at a <br />higher level. During the field investigation of the study area, Savage and Savage was <br />asked to identify and evaluate any "riparian" areas or communities which aze present <br />within the study area. <br />RIPARIAN DEFINITION <br />The application of the term riparian has transcended the scientific realm and entered the <br />regulatory realm in recent years. Regulatory and land management agencies have <br />utilized many community ecology terms to evaluate and justify land management <br />decisions. Unfortunately, while the scientific and academic communities were content <br />to accept and debate definitions related to natural conditions, the implications of <br />regulatory application of these often nebulous terms, may have significant impacts to <br />project development. Therefore, it is necessary to specify the exact meaning of many <br />terms, and limit their application in the regulatory framework. One such word and <br />concept is riparian. <br />• Several definitions of riparian have been developed by scientists and regulators. Three <br />relevant definitions are presented below. <br />In their classic text, Wetlands, Mitsch and Gosselink (1986) define riparian wetlands <br />thus, "Riparian wetlands, ecosystems in which soils and soil moisture are influenced by <br />the adjacent stream or river, are unique because of their linear form along rivers and <br />streams and because they process large fluxes or energy and materials from upstream <br />systems." <br />The federal Bureau of Land Management defines riparian areas in their ~.~arian Area <br />Management (1993) publication as "a form of wetland transition between permanently <br />saturated wetlands and upland areas. These areas exhibit vegetation or physical <br />characteristics reflective of permanent surface or subsurface water influence. Lands <br />along, adjacent to, or conriguous with perennial]y and intermittently flowing rivers and <br />streams, glacial potholes, and the shores or lakes and reservoir with stable water levels <br />are typical riparian areas. Excluded are such sites as ephemeral streams or washes that <br />do not exhibit the presence of vegetation dependent upon free water in the soil." <br />Platts et al (1987) identifies several characteristics of riparian communities in the west. <br />Restated, these include: <br />• <br />-~ <br />