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<br />only by permission of the landowners, although some privately owned oil shale <br />properties located along the county line are open to the public and are used for <br />recreational purposes. In some cases, hunting rights are leased out to outfitters, <br />while, in other cases, landowners have made arrangements with the State of <br />Colorado to allow limited public hunting on their properties (Unocal 1998). <br />7.12 VISUAL RESOURCES <br />The majority of the project area is located on BLM-administered public lands that <br />have been inventoried for visual resources and assigned Visual Resource <br />Management (VRM) classifications. These VRM classifications correspond to visual <br />management objectives for the area and also indicate the level of acceptable visual <br />changes the BLM will permit for a given project or activity. In general, areas <br />assigned a VRM I classification receive the greatest protection from visual impacts, <br />while VRM Class IV areas are permitted to receive the greatest degree of visual <br />impacts or changes. <br />Virtually the entire northern portion of the project area, which is located on BLM <br />lands, has been assigned a VRM Class III designation (BLM 1997b). Within the <br />southern portion of the project area, which primarily occupies private lands, the <br />Roan Plateau area has been assigned a VRM Class III designation, and Davis Point, <br />where the proposed project pipeline would descend into the Parachute Creek Valley, <br />• has been assigned a VRM Class II designation. <br />According to BLM guidelines that address visual resource management, in VRM <br />Class III areas, project-related changes may attract attention but may not dominate <br />the view of the casual observer. Changes should repeat the basic elements found in <br />the predominant natural features. In VRM Class II areas, project-related changes <br />should repeat the basic elements of form, line, color, and texture found in the <br />predominant features of the characteristic landscape. Unlike Class III areas, changes <br />should not attract the attention of the casual observer. According to BLM <br />guidelines, visual impacts of project activities should be minimized in both Class II <br />and III areas (BLM 1994). <br />[n terms of general visual character, the northern part of the project area consists of <br />long, undulating ridges dissected by short ravines, gullies, and small valleys. <br />Hillsides feature sand-colored rock outcrops mixed with green and gray vegetation. <br />The panorama presented on the cover of this document is a view of the Piceance <br />Site from the vicinity of the initial processing plant area that is typical of the <br />regional landscape. From Davis Point south, the landscape is characterized by <br />dramatic steep-walled canyons up to about 2,000 feet high, with sand and gray <br />colored rock outcrops and cliffs mixed with green and gray vegetation. Figures 7-30 <br />through 7-35 provide photographic views of various portions of the project area. <br />Much of the proposed project pipeline route parallels existing natural gas pipelines. <br />• Along these corridors, linear disturbance of the natural vegetative cover is visible to <br />varying degrees. These visual impacts are most apparent where the pipelines cross <br />American Soda, L.L.P. '~_47 <br />Commeraal Mine Plan <br />August ]8. 1998 <br />