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<br /> <br />1 <br /> <br />1 <br />1 <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />1 <br /> <br />1 <br />1 <br /> <br />1 <br /> <br />1 <br /> <br />I. INTRODUCTION <br />This report has been prepared in support of an application for Phase II bond release for <br />two areas (Area 1 and 2) within the permit area of the New Horizon Mine (Colorado <br />Division of Minerals and Geology permit C-81-008), owned and operated by Western <br />Fuels-Colorado. Documented within is information relative to the vegetative condition <br />of Area 1, Area 2, and the Upland Sagebrush Reference Area of the mine. Vegetation <br />sampling was performed in compliance with Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board <br />Surface Coal Mining Rules 2.04.10 and 4.15 and current botanical and plant ecological <br />methods. Field sampling was conducted between July 5 and 8, 1993 by Savage and <br />Savage and observed by staff of the Colorado Division of Minerals and Geology. <br />The New Horizon Mine is located in Montrose County, Colorado, approximately 2.5 <br />miles northwest of Nucla, Colorado. The current New Horizon Mine 1 was originally <br />opened and surface mined by the Edna Coal Company in 1958. Peabody Coal <br />Company purchased the mine in 1963 and operated it until 1983. In 1992, Western <br />Fuels-Colorado purchased the mine (encompassing the current New Horizon Mine 1 <br />and 2) and renamed it the New Horizon Mine. Reclamation activities at the New <br />Horizon Mine 1 were conducted by Edna Coal Company and Peabody Coal Company <br />in accordance with the reclamation laws in effect at the time. Mining and reclamation <br />permits were issued under the Colorado Open Mining Act (1976), the Colorado Mined <br />Land Reclamation Act, and the Colorado Surface Coal Mining Reclamation Act. Due <br />to the age of the New Horizon Mine 1 and the continuing development of reclamation <br />science during the past three decades, reclamation (and revegetation) at this mine <br />exhibits many levels of disturbance mitigation. The areas analyzed for Phase II bond <br />release were reclaimed between 1978 and 1990. The revegetation standards used to <br />evaluate these areas are those currently in effect under the Colorado Surface Coal <br />Mining Reclamation Act (CRS 34-33- 101 et seq). <br />The Upland Sagebrush Reference Area is depicted in Figure 1. Area 1 is depicted in <br />Figure 2. Figure 3 shows the general topography and vegetative condition of Area 2. <br />1 <br />