1994-10-21_GENERAL DOCUMENTS - C1980007

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Soils - Rule 2.04.9 Soil Resource Information can be found in Section 2.04.9 in the permit application. More specific information relating to soil mapping units can be found in Exhibit 27, Exhibit 28, Exhibit 29, and on Map 40, 40A, and 41. Soils of the West Elk Mine were mapped during the summer of 1976. Throughout the soil survey, "mapping units" were used to characterize the soils in the mine area. These survey mapping units are combinations of Soil Families or selected Great Groups and Subgroups according to the system of soil taxonomy used in the National Soil Survey Program of the United States. During the summer of 1993 the soils of the Jumbo Mountain Tract were mapped following criteria and descriptions contained in the Soil Conservation Service soil survey of the Paonia, Colorado area (USDA-SCS, 1993) . Any discrepancies in soil mapping units can be attributed to the change in soil classification during the time between the mapping efforts. The survey is a general reconnaissance and the mapping units are broad in concept. Soils of the West Elk Mine were divided into eight morphological groups to depict the different kinds of soil genesis and major differences in distribution. The purpose of this classification was to assist in understanding the soil and its development. Vetretation - Rule 2 .04.10 Specific information regarding collection and analysis of vegetation can be found in Section 2.04.10 in the permit document. The distribution of the land and vegetation types can be found on Map 42 and 42A. The West Elk Mine collected baseline vegetation information in 1975, 1976, and 1993 by studying a designated environmental study area, which extends approximately one mile outside the permit boundary and mine plan boundary. This area is approximately 25,560 acres in size. This survey identified ten vegetation types and six land types. They are as follows: 1) Aspen, comprising 19 percent of the study area; 2) Douglas fir, comprising four percent of the study area; 3) Wet Mixed Shrub, comprising 50 percent of the study area, dominated by serviceberry and Gambel oak; 4) Dry Mixed Shrub, comprising 10 percent of the study area, distinguished by serviceberry, Gambel oak, Mountain mahogany, Cliff findlerbush, and bitterbrush; 5) Oak, comprising one percent of the study area, including Gambel oak and the larger size oak individuals (15-20 ft in height) , which are limited to the bottom of permanent stream drainages; 6) Juniper, comprising five percent of the study area, which includes Rocky Mountain Juniper and Utah Juniper; 7) Riparian, comprising two percent of the study area, 8) Sagebrush, comprising six percent of the study area; 9) Wet Meadow, comprising one percent of the study area, distinguished by open boggy areas along major drainages above 7,000 feet and openings in brushy or forested areas at elevations above 8,000 feet, occupied by herbaceous species such as sedges and false hellebore; 10) Dry Meadow, comprising one percent of the study area which is dominated by various shrub species such as snowberry, Douglas rabbitbrush, and Gambel oak; 11) Barren Terrain, comprising less than one percent of the study area which was identified by no apparent vegetation cover; 12) Chained Area, comprising less than one percent of the study area, is so named because the area has been mechanically treated by chaining to remove tall shrub species and has been trenched along the contours and planted to ponderosa pine; 13) Reservoir, comprising less than one percent of the study area and includes Beaver Reservoir and Minnesota Reservoir; 14) Residential, comprising less than one percent of the study area and includes the town of Somerset; 15) Industrial, comprising less than one percent of the study area which includes the Somerset Mine, the Bear No. 3 Mine, railroad sidings, and mine vents; and 16) Agricultural, comprising less than one percent of the study area. In a 1994 Environmental Analysis (EA) produced by the Uncompahgre Basin Resource Area of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on the Jumbo Mountain coal lease one plant species, the Grand Mesa penstemon (Penstemon mensarum) , a Federal category 2 species) was noted as having the potential to occur in the area. The EA further required a threatened and endangered plant survey prior 9