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classification during the time between the mapping efforts. The survey is a general <br />reconnaissance and the mapping units aze broad in concept. <br />Vegetation -Rule 2.04.10 <br />Specific information regarding collection and analysis of vegetation can be found in Section <br />2.04.10 in the permit document. The distribution of the land and vegetation types can be found <br />on Map 42 and 43. <br />The West Elk Mine collected baseline vegetation information in 1975, 1976, and 1993 by <br />studying a designated environmental study area, which extends approximately one mile outside <br />the permit boundary and mine plan boundary. This area is approximately 25,560 acres in size. <br />This survey identified ten vegetation types and six land types. They are as follows: 1) Aspen, <br />comprising 19 percent of the study area; 2) Douglas fir, comprising four percent of the study <br />area; 3} Wet Mixed Shrub, comprising 50 percent of the study area, dominated by serviceberry <br />and Gambel oak; 4) Dry Mixed Shrub, comprising 10 percent of the study area, distinguished by <br />serviceberry, Gambel oak, Mountain mahogany, Cliff findlerbush, and bitterbrush; 5) Oak, <br />comprising one percent of the study area, including Gambel oak and the larger size oak <br />individuals (15-20 ft in height), which are limited to the bottom of permanent stream drainages; <br />6) Juniper, comprising five percent of the study azea, which includes Rocky Mountain Juniper <br />and Utah Juniper; 7) Riparian, comprising two percent of the study area, 8) Sagebrush, <br />comprising six percent of the study area; 9) Wet Meadow, comprising one percent of the study <br />area, distinguished by open boggy azeas along major drainages above 7,000 feet and openings in <br />brushy or forested areas at elevations above 8,000 feet, occupied by herbaceous species such as <br />sedges and false hellebore; 10) Dry Meadow, comprising one percent of the study azea which is <br />dominated by various shrub species such as snowberry, Douglas rabbitbrush, and Gambel oak; <br />11) Barren Terrain, comprising less than one percent of the study area which was identified by no <br />appazent vegetation cover; 12) Chained Area, comprising less than one percent of the study area, <br />is so named because the area has been mechanically treated by chaining to remove tall shrub <br />species and has been trenched along the contours and planted to ponderosa pine; 13) Reservoir, <br />comprising less than one percent of the study area and includes Beaver Reservoir and Minnesota <br />Reservoir; 14} Residential, comprising less than one percent of the study area and includes the <br />town of Somerset; 15) Industrial, comprising less than one percent of the study area which <br />includes the Somerset Mine, the Bear No. 3 Mine, railroad sidings, and mine vents; and 16) <br />Agricultural, comprising less than one percent of the study area. <br />The two vegetation types that occur within the area to be affected by surface facilities aze a dry <br />meadow type and a moist, mixed shrub type. <br />Ina 1994 Environmental Analysis (EA) produced by the Uncompahgre Basin Resource Area of <br />the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on the Jumbo Mountain coal lease, one plant species, <br />the Grand Mesa penstemon (Penstemon mensarum, a Federal category 2 species) was noted as <br />having the potential to occur in the area. The EA further required a threatened and endangered <br />plant survey prior to any surface disturbance. Additional and updated vegetation information <br />was collected and submitted with the Apache Rocks Permit Revision. Although the species is <br />abundant on the MCC property, no operations currently threaten the plants. <br />33 <br />