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iValural Springs urtd Seeps. There are six springs within the permit azea and adjacent areas. The North Spring. also referred to as the Lippard No. 1, originates at the head of a small drainage near its junction with old Highway 13 along the base of a thin Pleistocene or Quaternary gravel that caps many terraces in the area. The East Spring flows from the base of a highway fill and appears to be a ma.n-made situation. The South Spring is located on a hillside west of the Williams Fork River approximately one mile south of the No. 5 Mine portal where water discharges from a sandstone lens within the Jles Formation. A small seep is found at the No. 9 Mine face-up. This spring flows only in the spring and dries up in the summer. The Haxton Spring originates in a weathered, brown-gray, very fine-grained sandstone. A pipe has been set in the ground at the: spring, but no flow has been observed. Aggregate flow from the springs is less than 20 gpm. 'The springs that were surveyed do not appear to be discharge zones Yor any of the regional bedrock aquifers and are not considered significant water sources. Spoil Springs. Water seeps from the base of the old Williams Fork Strip Pit No. 1 and drains into the Williams Fork River. Presumably the water percolates through the regraded spoils of the pit. Flow has ranged between 4 gpm and 198 gpm. Total dissolved solids have averaged around 1,OOOmg/l. Soil Types. The permit area is occupied by three soil orders: Aridisols, Entisols, and Mollisols. These soil orders are characteristic of fairly steep, semi-arid regions of northwestern Colorado. They represent soils that grade from recently developed soil bodies with minimum horizon development Orntisols) to older soils with well-defined diagnostic horizons (Mollisols). Soil Characteristics and Distribution. Overall, the soils found in the proposed permit area are relatively deep a~td fairly well-drained. Effective rooting depth varies from two to sixty inches within the area. The deepest soils yielding the greatest rooting depths occur in valleys and on the leeward sides of ridi;es. Soil reaction is slightly acid to moderately alkaline in the pertniE area with the exception small scattered areas where substrata are saline. These small areas have probably formed in place from weathered sodic shales. Vegetation Communities. Vegetation communities in the permit area range from an upland mountain shrub community to cottonwood-willow communities in the riparian zone next to the Williams Fork and Yampa Rivers. Juniper or big sagebrush communities dominate more xeric sites throughout [he permit area. Lands disturbed by mining are upland big sagebrush and mountain shrub communities, croplands, and previously mined lands. The croplands are previously mined lands. There are two types of croplands: 1) irrigated hayfields in the fertile river bottom areas, artd 2) dryland wheat, found on cleared hillsides which were once sage- dominated. Several areas disturbed by former mining operations are within the disturbed aeeas. Wildlife. Wildlife habitat in the permit area is diverse. ]t is used extensively by mule deer and elk. Known predators include cougar, coyote, red fox and bobcat. Small game and fur-bearing mammals include the cottontail rabbit, white-tailed jack rabbit, raccoon, beaver, muskrat, striped skunk and weasel. Many species of birds are also found within the permit boundary. Of special interest are various species of waterfowl, raptors (including the golden and bald eagles), the sandhill crane and the sage grouse. Fish species in the Williams Fork River, within the disturbed area, include various suckers and minnows, mottled scuplin, rainbow trout and mountain whitefish. ]0