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r -5- DESCRIPTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT The Orchard Y alley Mine 1s situated in the northeastern portion of Oelta County, Colorado and is located approximately four (4) miles north of Paonia. Colorado along the Steven's Gulch Road. The western extremities of the Orchard Valley Mine permit area are bounded closely by the East and Nest Roatcap Creek drainage divide, and the northern boundary is located at approximately the Morrell Cow Camp area. The location of the entire Orchard Valley Permit area can be found on Fiqure 1. The coal loadout facilities are located approximately 1 mite northeast of Paonla along State Highway No. 133. The general area 1n which the mine is located is characterized by a semi-arid environment of steeply sloping mountains. Both the main mine portal facilities and the loadout were constructed in the 1970's prior to the passage of SMCRA or the Colorado Surface Coal Mining and Reclamation Act. Soils within those portions of the permit area which have been or will be disturbed by surface operations and facilities are generally deep, well-drained, and vary widely 1n slope. Permeability values are low, thus • encouraging surface runoff. Asa result, the water erosion hazard is often high. Generally, available water capacities are high, reflecting the potential of these soils to store water for plant use. Topsoil layers at the existing facilities are shallow, ranging from about two (2) inches to eight (B) inches, surface textures are generally looms or clay looms with subsoils ranging from clay looms to clays. However, at the Roatcap Creek facilities soils are much deeper, ranging from 2-4 feet in many places. Basaltic cobbles and stones are common throughout the profile of most soils. fie general area is somewhat susceptible to landslides, especially 1n the steeper topography of the mine bench area, and as such, the continual sloughing of colluvial material in this area impairs horizon development. The general area contains lmportartt winter range for both elk and deer, and over 10,000 hunter days per year are spent in this area. Golden eagles have been noted near the mine site, Dut no threatened or endangered wildlife species have been observed. The North Fork of the Gunnison River contains twelve (12) species of fish, Including three (3) species of game fish (rainbow trout, brown trout, and northern pike). However, due to the poor production of benthic organisms and poor habitat conditions, the North Fork is not stocked. frequently. The permit area can be divided into two general land use categories. The loadout is within an area historically used as cropland, or more specifically, orchard land. The permit area north of Highway 133 is used as short term grazing and wildlife habitat. Grazing tends to be short term due to the low productivity of the pinyon-juniper and oakbrush vegetation.