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D. Transportation The surface of the application area is accessed by the Minnesota • Creek Drainage to the south. Coal is transported by underground conveyor to the loadout tipple on fee lands. The loadout facility is served by the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad. This spur is used solely for coal haulage. The line ends just past the West Elk dine and connects loadout facilities of several coal mines along the route. In 1992, six to seven 100-car trains hauled coal between the mines in Paonia and Grand Junction every week. The trains haul coal from the Bear Hine, West Elk !Sine, orchard Valley Mine and the Sanborn Creek Mine. Coal cars are sided at loadout facilities until they are filled with coal. E. Climate and Air Quality The climate can be described as having moderate summer and cold winter temperatures and receiving a moderate amount of precipitation. Maximum summer temperatures generally do not exceed 90' F; winter low temperatures are frequently less than 15' F. Annual precipitation is variable ranging from 7 to 25 inches. The town of Paonia averages around 15 inches of precipitation annually. "West winds predominate, however, there is a noticeable diurnal wind pattern of upslope during the day and downslope at night. Air quality in the vicinity of the application lands is typical of undeveloped regions in the western Dnited States; ambient pollutant levels are usually near or below the measurable limits. • Notable exceptions in the Delta County area include high, short- term concentrations of total suspended particulates related to local winds, ozone, non-methane hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide, especially in communities. Average visibility is about 54 miles with greatest visibility occurring during spring and summer months. This portion of the North Fork of the Gunnison River has been designated as a Class II area. There are no major stationary sources of air pollution in the immediate vicinity, nor is the train and vehicular traffic along the North Fork of the Gunnison River of a magnitude so as to constitute a significant source of air pollution. There is coal dust .generated from existing mines. F. Wildlife Wildlife consists of species typical of mountain, shrub and pinyonJjuniper zones. The tract is within critical deer winter range. Critical elk winter range exists to the south, but there is no critical elk winter range on the tract. Golden eagles use the review area as hunting habitat.' Also, the potential exists for nesting to occur. BLM inventories conducted from 1978 to 1980 and monitoring flights through 1985 did not • locate any nest or roost sites. No nest sites are known to be present at this time. Page 7