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RECEIVED <br /> EXHIBIT "Y' JUL 31 1981 <br /> Vegetation information : MiNED LAND RECLAMATION <br /> Colo. Dept. of Natural Resources <br /> A description of vegetation types for the area has been included <br /> in the permittee's original application. With the exception of <br /> the cultivated lands which are used for growing certain grasses <br /> the area exhibits similar characteristics to other areas de- <br /> scribed in the original application. For informational <br /> purposes the following excerpt from the Colony EIS (1977) has <br /> been included : <br /> "Along Parachute Creek a narrow cottonwood/box elder gallery <br /> forest is present which is usually only 100 to 150 feet wide . <br /> Narrowleaf cottonwood and box elder are the dominant trees . <br /> Dominant shrubs are western virgin ' s bower and Wood ' s rose . A <br /> vast number of grasses and forbs are present, but the most <br /> common are Kentucky bluegrass and dandelion. <br /> A Gambel oak woodland is normally adjacent to the gallery <br /> forest . Associated with the oak is chokecherry and Utah <br /> juniper . Oakbrush sprouts, skunkbush, serviceberry, and <br /> western virgin ' s bower comprise an extremely dense understory . <br /> The herb layer is composed of Oregon grape and Kentucky blue- <br /> grass. <br /> Agricultural lands are located in the Colorado River floodplain <br /> and adjacent to Parachute Creek in the Parachute Creek canyon. <br /> Hayfields and pasture constitute the greatest amount of agri- <br /> cultural land . The primary hay crop is irrigated alfalfa, <br /> which, in good years, can be cut several times during the <br /> growing season. The soils are generally silty clay loams which <br /> would be covered with greasewood if not cultivated. <br /> Big sagebrush communities occupy the alluvial fans on both <br /> sides of the valley . Other species present are cheatgrass, <br /> Indian ricegrass, and bottlebrush squirreltail . <br /> Mixed alluvial land includes areas of unconsolidated alluvium, <br /> varying widely in texture and profile characteristics as a <br /> result of stream overflow. <br /> These soils occur as narrow, elongated areas on the floodplains <br /> of streams . They are moderately productive, but susceptible to <br /> erosion, and are not normally well suited to construction, <br /> drain fields, or roads due to their unstable nature. " <br />