2000-03-10_GENERAL DOCUMENTS - C1980007

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survey of the Paonia, Colorado area (USDA-SCS, 1993). The maps have been updated for subsequent permit revisions. 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. Vegetation - 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 Maps 42 and 43 and Exhibits 31, 32, 32A and 33. The West Elk Mine collected baseline vegetation information in 1975, 1976, 1993 and 1996.by studying a designated environmental study area, which extends approximately one mile outside the permit boundary and mine plan boundary. 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 Sanborn Creek and Bear No. 3 Mines, railroad sidings, and mine vents; and 16) Agricultural, comprising less than one percent of the study area. The two vegetation types that occur within the area to be affected by surface facilities are a dry meadow type and a moist, mixed shrub type. 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 14