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Peabody Twentymile Coal Company 2004 Fish Creek AVF Riparian Vegetation Monitoring Introduction At the request of Peabody and Twentymile Coal Company ("TMCC"), Habitat Management Inc. ("HMI") initiated a vegetation study of the Fish Creek alluvial valley floor ("AVF") along a reach of Fish Creek located within the TMCC permit area in 2003. The study area is located in Sections 15 and 16 of Township 5 North, Range 86 West, Routt County, Colorado. Coal mining activities have been conducted under this portion of the creek, and have subsequently subsided. In 2003 HMI developed a method to objectively assess and track significant changes in vegetation community composition and aerial distribution located above underground mining activities over time. Since the general effect of subsidence is a slump or drop in elevation over portions of the under-mined area, it was agreed that monitoring the composition of vegetation communities along permanent transects located above longwall mining activities would serve as a good indicator of the effects of subsidence on the upland/riparian complex found in this area. This report presents the results of 2004 monitoring activities along the transects of Fish Creek established in 2003, and compares the 2003 and 2004 observations to both describe changes in the vegetation resources in the riparian area and summarize the impacts of underground coal mining subsidence on the landscape. Methodology The methods employed for this study are based on procedures developed by the US Department of Agriculture Forest Service ("USFS") and published in General Technical Report ("GTR"), RMRS-GTR-47, "Monitoring the Vegetation Resources in Riparian Areas'. The specific methodology employed was Vegetative Cross- Section Composition. This method involves running a series of step transects perpendicular to the stream channel and recording the number of steps taken in each community type. Using permanently located transects, the survey can be repeated annually, and the results compared to assess the possible effects of subsidence on the vegetation communities over time. Twelve permanent transects were established at random locations running perpendicular to the stream channel and crossing the entire valley floor in 2003 (Map 1: Fish Creek Study Area). Start and endpoints were established on either the T1 banks or terrace several feet above the 100-year floodplain to help ensure the markers are not washed out by seasonal flooding events. Their locations were Habitat Management, Inc. Page 1 10/8/2004