Laserfiche WebLink
<br />-37- <br /> <br />A modification to the original approved topsoil redistribution plan for the <br />steep cut slopes along portions of County Road 65 was requested by the <br />permittee on May 24, 1982 and approved by the Division on June 3, 1982 as a <br />minor revision to the permit. The modification involves deleting the <br />topsoiling requirement on all rock cut slopes and the long steep cut slopes <br />found along County Road 65. The operator felt, and the Division and County <br />Engineer concurred, that there would be a high potential for soils to slip off <br />the slopes into the drainages. All fill slopes sill be top soiled as defined <br />by the approved permit application. <br />The operation is in compliance with the requirements of this section. <br />XII. Vegetation - Rules 2.04.10, 2.05.4(2)(e) and 4.15 <br />Information pertaining to affected area plant communities at the Deserado Mine <br />is provided in section II.F, pages 1 through 76 of Volume 2 of the permit <br />application. Maps 9 and 10 of Volume 5 of the application show the location <br />and configuration of all plant communities in areas to be affected by surface <br />operations and facilities. The permittee's revegetaton plan is presented in <br />Section V.I, pages 36 to 45 of Volume 4 of the application. Planting <br />specifications are provided in Illustration 26 of Volume 12. <br />Eight plant communities have been delineated on areas within portions of the <br />permit area affected by surface operations and facilities. Vegetation <br />communities consist of juniper woodland, juniper woodland-big sagebrush, big <br />sagebrush, big sagebrush-wheatgrass, western wheatgrass, Colorado wildrye, <br />cheatgrass-annual forb, and big sagebrush-greasewood. The communities <br />comprise a mosaic of plant dominants controlled by soil type and topography. <br />Further influence on vegetation composition and distribution has been exerted <br />by past and present land uses. Overgrazing of much of the permit area has <br />occurred. This overuse has adversely affected much of the natural <br />vegetation. The result is a predominance of disturbed vegetation types that <br />are successional or dysclimactic in character. <br />The largest vegetation community to be disturbed by mining operations during <br />the permit term is the Big Sagebrush-Western Wheatgrass type. A total of <br />111.7 acres will be disturbed. Thirty one acres will be disturbed in the <br />D-Portal Area, 27 acres will be disturbed by the refuse haul road, and <br />approximately 43 acres will be disturbed by the four initial waste disposal <br />units. This type might more properly be designated as big <br />sagebrush-wildrye-western wheatgrass, since Colorado wildrye is the principal <br />herbaceous sub-dominant. The detailed description of community structure and <br />composition is provided on pages II. F39 of Volume 3 of the application. <br />Cover and production data is presented in Table 7. <br />Twenty-six acres in the cheatgrass-annual forb community and eighteen acres in <br />the big sagebrush-greasewood community will be affected. Lesser amounts of <br />disturbance will occur in western wheatgrass, big sagebrush, Colorado wildrye, <br />juniper-big sagebrush, and juniper woodland communities. <br />Pursuant to Rule 2.07.6(2)(n), the Division has determined that no threatened <br />or endangered species of plants exist within areas to be affected by the <br />Deserado Mine surface operations and facilities. <br />