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Threatened Endangered, and Sensitive (TESJ Species' Habikit Assessment Survey <br />1.0 INTRODUCTION <br />Oxbow Mining, LLC (Oxbow), in support of current operations at its Elk Creek subsurface coal <br />mine near Paonia, Colorado, is proposing to drill two Gob Vent Boreholes (GVB) in an azea <br />where subsurface longwall expansion is proceeding. The instillation of these two GVB's will <br />facilitate the removal of methane from the underground mine, thereby helping Oxbow maintain a <br />safe working environment. Additionally, one road providing access to each GVB is proposed. <br />Greystone Environmental Consultants, Inc. (Greystone), was contracted by Oxbow to survey the <br />vicinity of proposed disturbance activities for potential habitat 1.'or any threatened, endangered, or <br />sensitive (TES) species. This report details the methods and re~~ults of the field survey, including <br />a description of the vegetative community present in the project area and the potential for TES <br />species to occur. <br />1.1 PROJECT DESCRIPTION <br />The two proposed GVB's, one each on Oxbow property and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) <br />property, and associated access road are Located in Section 6 of Township 13 South, Range 90 <br />West, in Gunnison County, Colorado. Beginning at an existing GVB location (GVB-LW3-01) on <br />BLM property at an elevation of 6,850 feet, the proposed access road will follow the northern <br />edge of a dry tributary to Beaz Creek eastwazd to proposed (iVB-LW4-03, where it toms and <br />traverses southwest up the hillside to GVB-LW3-03 on Oxbow property at 7,300 feet elevation <br />(Project Area). The access road will leave BLM property and enter Oxbow property at a point <br />approximately half-way in between GVB-LW4-03 and GVB-LW3-03. <br />2.0 METHODS <br />A pedestrian survey was conducted on September 17, 2004 by field biologist Chuck Florian. The <br />survey began at Oxbow's existing GVB-LW3-Ol site and con:~isted of following flagging along <br />the proposed access road corridor to both proposed GVB pacts, which were previously staked. <br />The vegetative communities occurring in the Project Area were mapped and a list of the dominant <br />species compiled. Photographs of the two proposed GVB pads were taken and are presented in <br />Appendix A. <br />A list of TES species that may occur in Gunnison County, Colorado was compiled from the U. S. <br />Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS, 2004a) and BLM (BLM, 2004a), and are presented in Tables <br />1 and 2, respectively. The potential of occurrence within the Project Area was evaluated for each <br />species based on its habitat requirements and known distribution. <br />1838-0zbow_TES Survey_(10.25.04).doc <br />