Laserfiche WebLink
f J <br />. CHAPTER III <br />THE AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT <br />A. General Setting <br />The general area in which the mine is located is <br />characterized by a semi-arid environment of steeply sloping <br />mountains covered primarily with tall shrub vegetation, <br />particularly oakbrush and serviceberry. The mining plan <br />modification area is currently used for grazing by domestic <br />livestock (cattle and sheep) and wildlife (deer and elk). <br />The area is "remote" and occasionally used for big-game <br />hunting. <br />Except for the 35.5-acre area associated with the B-seam <br />main entries, Gribble Gulch, Lone Pine Gulch and Sylvester <br />Gulch drain the entire permit area; they lie within the <br />drainage basin of the North Fork of the Gunnison River. The <br />35.5-acre permit revision area is within the Minnesota Creek <br />drainage basin. The entire area is part of the Colorado <br />River drainage basin. Lone Pine Gulch and Sylvester Gulch <br />are ephemeral streams. No flow was observed in Lone Pine <br />Gulch for a period of years, and the hydrologic yield of <br />Sylvester Gulch is low compared to other watersheds in the <br />area. <br />Slopes range from 0 to 60 percent on the permit area, with <br />most slopes exceeding 15 percent. Elevations range from <br />about 6,000 feet at Somerset to about 8,000 feet at the <br />southern end of the permit area. <br />B. Critical Elements <br />Cultural, paleontological, or historic resource values <br />About 400 acres of the Mt. Gunnison No. 1 mine life-of-mine <br />area has been surveyed for cultural/paleontological/historic <br />resources. Two historical sites were recorded, but neither <br />was considered eligible for the National Register of <br />Historic Places. The surface of the remaining area is <br />steeply sloped, with few if any cultural resources expected <br />to occur. <br />2. Water supply and quality values <br />Local groundwater flow is controlled through fractures, <br />faults, topography and discontinuous lenticular sandstones <br />and shales. No regional aquifers occur above the B seam (or <br />the underlying A seam.) Groundwater in the localized, <br />. perched aquifers discharges as springs and seeps in the <br />7 <br />