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visible from Piceance Creek Road. Visual impacts over the majority of the Piceance • Site would therefore only be visible to recreational users of the area driving on primitive dirt roads that cross the Piceance Site, primarily the Yellow Creek Jeep Trail. Along the proposed pipeline route, visual impacts would consist of surface disturbance along a linear corridor up to approximately 75 feet wide. Once construction is finished, natural vegetative textures and colors would be replaced by an earth-colored path of disturbed soil similar to that illustrated in Figures 7-32 and 7-33. American Soda will actively undertake reclamation activities, including revegetation of the pipeline corridor (see Section 6.5.2). After a period of 1 to 2 years, the disturbed pipeline corridor will have been revegetated with grasses and other low-growing plant species. Over time, shrubs and other larger plants would become reestablished over the pipeline corridor, and visual impacts would gradually diminish. Trees would not be allowed to reestablish over the pipeline and, in areas where the pipeline corridor passes through woodlands, a cleared path would remain as a long-term visual impact. It is important to note that, over the majority of its length, the pipeline route parallels existing pipelines where similar visual impacts already exist. Visual impacts associated with the pipeline corridor would be most visible to the public in two locations along Piceance Creek Road. First, the pipeline would leave • the Piceance Site and cross the road at the mouth of Hatch Gulch. Drivers on Piceance Creek Road would briefly see the pipeline corridor across the Piceance Creek valley and up Hatch Gulch as they pass. Because the pipeline corridor would be perpendicular to the road, it would only be noticeable for a brief period of time. The second location at which pipeline corridor would be visible is south on Piceance Creek Road near the mouth of Collins Gulch. At that location, the new pipeline corridor would parallel existing pipeline disturbance, and both corridors would be visible to drivers for a short period of time (Figure 7-33). As stated above, as vegetation reestablishes over the disturbed pipeline corridor, associated visual impacts would diminish. The Piceance Site and pipeline route are located primarily on BLM-administered lands and are subject to the BLM's visual resource management guidelines. These facilities are located in VRM Class III areas. As described by the BLM, project activities that disturb the visual landscape are permissible in VRM Class III areas with some mitigation measures (BLM 1994). Thus, implementation of the Yankee Gulch Project would be permissible under the BLM's visual resource management guidelines. The southern portion of the pipeline corridor and the preferred Parachute Site are located almost entirely on privately owned lands that are not subject to the BLM's VRM guidelines. The preferred Parachute Site is visible in the distance from • several vantage points in the community of Battlement Mesa, which is located across the Colorado River valley. The views from Battlement Mesa are from American Soda, L.L.P. 8-31 Commernal Mine Plan August 18, 7996