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~a <br />~,;; The Mountain Coal Company (MCC) operates the West Elk Mine under a permit (No. C-80- <br />~~`"' 007) issued by the Colorado Division of Minerals and Geology (DMG). The location of the <br />mine is in Gunnison County approximately two miles east of Somerset, Colorado off of <br />~~~` Colorado State Highway 133. <br />1 <br />Under the MCC's ongoing exploratory drilling program, wells are drilled within the mine permit <br />boundary in order to assess new coal resources within the mine area. In compliance with the <br />"` Endangered Species Act of 1972 as amended, a cleazance survey for all federally-listed <br />threatened and endangered wildlife and plant species is required before drilling can begin. In <br />addition, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) requires a cleazance survey for all USFS sensitive <br />" species to be completed before drilling can begin. The threatened, endangered, and USFS <br />sensitive (TES) species of concern potentially occurring in proximity of the West Elk mine aze <br />listed in Appendix A. A survey is also required to identify any fragile or particulazly sensitive <br />areas of concern. These aeeas might include wetlands, riparian aeeas, and unusual topographic <br />features. <br />A preliminary field investigation of 21 proposed drill pad sites within panels 16, 17 and 17S was <br />~c conducted on September 18-19, 2001 to assess potential impacts to TES species. This report <br />describes the methodology and results of the field investigation. <br />~a SITE LOCATION <br />West Elk Mine is located in Gunnison County approximately two miles east of Somerset, <br />f ~j Colorado. Panels 16, 17 and 17S are located in Township 13 south, Range 90 west, Section 26 <br />(S1/2), Section 27 (S1/2), Section 34 (N17S/4), Section 35 (Nl/2) (Figure 1). <br />~" The proposed project consists of 21 drill pad locations and access roads for possible "de-gas" <br />vent holes for underground mine panels 16, 17, and 17S of the West Elk Mine. This survey azea <br />contains proposed locations and access corridors for drill pads 16-06, 16-07, 16-08, 17-O1 <br />~'„ through 17-09, and 17S-O1 through 17S-09. Locations for drill pads 15-01, 15-02, IS-03, 16-01 <br />and 16-04 are within the southern part of a previously surveyed block along a tributary of Deep <br />Creek in Section 26 (Greystone 2001). <br />L7 <br />~,_,, <br />yr <br />y,3 <br />r;, <br />TEDri71Si[eSurvey-RPT(2I0)REVI/December 3, 2001 1 <br />