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-8- Description of the Environment The Orchard Valley Mine is situated in the northeastern portion of Delta County, Colorado and is located approximately 5 miles North of Paonia, Colorado along the Stevens Gulch Road. The western and southern extremities of the Orchard Valley mine permit area are bounded closely by Stevens Gulch, and the northern boundary is located approximately 1 mile South of the Morrell Cow Camp area. The location of the entire Orchard Valley Permit area can be found on figure 1. The coal loadout facilities are located approximately 1 mile northeast of Paonia along State Highway No. 133. The general area in which the mine is located is characterized by a semi-arid environment of steeply sloping mountains. Soils within those portions of the permit area which have been or will be disturbed by surface operations and facilities are generally deep, well-drained, and vary widely in slope. Permeability values are low, thus encouraging surface runoff. As a result, the water erosion hazard is often high. Generally, available water capacities are high, reflecting the potential of these soils to store water for plant use. Topsoil layers are shallow, ranging from about 2-8", surface textures are generally loams or clay loams with subsoils ranging from clay loams to clays. Basaltic cobbles and stones are common throughout the profiles of most soils. The general area is somewhat susceptible to landslides, especially in the steeper topography of the mine bench area, and as such, the continual sloughing of colluvial material in this area impairs horizon development. The general area contains important winter range for both elk and deer, and over 10,000 hunter days per year are spent in this area. Golden eagles have been noted near the mine site, but no threatened or endangered wildlife species have been observed. The North Fork of the Gunnison Kiver contains 12 species of fish, including 3 species of game fish (rainbow trout, brown trout, and northern pike). However, due to the poor production of benthic organisms and poor habitat conditions, the North Fork is not stocked frequently. The vegetation on the areas affected by the Orchard Valley mine's surface operations and facilities is characterized by pinyon-juniper stands, mixed mountain shrublands, oakbrush shrublands, and orchard land at the rail loadout facility along the North Fork. The pinyon-juniper type is the most extensive vegetation type occuring in the affected area, covering 49.4 of the 72.2 total affected acres. The mixed mountian shrub type occurs along the West side of Stevens Gulch, where 7.3 acres have been disturbed by the mine timber storage area. The oakbrush vegetation type occurs primarily to the North of the affected area. The Orchard Valley mine's rail loadout facilities have affected 16 acres of orchard land. Adjacent orchards produce a variety of fruits, including peaches, apricots, prunes, cherries, pears, and apples.