PERMFILE101772

• Permit No: M1997026
• IBM Index Class Name: Permit File
• Doc Name: APPENDIX A WILDLIFE AND VEGETATION EVATUATIONS OF NORTH BERM AND MITIGATION MEASURES
• Section_Exhibit Name: APPENDIX A WILDLIFE AND VEGETATION EVALUATION OF NORTH BERM AND MITIGATION MEASURE
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

• ',vILpLIFE EV~LU/ iICN ~ME NGRtd BEPM GF THE CdAGL ANN PIT MINING 51 i E
• project was provided to area resource trustees of the Army Corps of Engineers, Colorado
Division of 1ildlife and others. In response, comments were provided regarding their
concerns with project activities and potential impacts to area wildlife and habitats of
riparian and wetlands.
As a result of the comments received, B&B has taken measures to address the comments by
conducting delineation efforts for wetlands and riparian habitats, and an evaluation of
wildlife habitat occurring within the north berm. This Technical Memorandum (TM)
provides the methods and results of the wildlife habitat evaluation for the north berm
(Figure 1) of the project area. A Eield reconnaissance effort was conducted on September Z5,
1996. During this effort, a survey of vegetation types and available wildlife habitat were
documented. This document provides a summary of the methods and results of this effort
(Section 2.0), as well as a discussion of the potential mining impacts to the north berm
wildlife habitat (Section 3.0).
2.0 Wildlife Evaluation
The following provides a summary of the methods and results for the survey of existing
terrestrial ecosystem components of vegetation, cover and wildlife habitat that occur within
the north berm of the Carol Ann Pit site. Existing wetlands and riparian within the project
area have been previously identified and documented in a separate document (Savage and
Savage, 1996).
2.1 Methods
• Afield survey of wildlife habitat was conducted for the entire north berm area (Figure 1) on
September 25, 1996. The area was traversed and photographed to identify the occurring
species assemblages of vegetation and wildlife. Wildlife are elusive, therefore their
occurrence is often inferred based upon characteristics of habitat. For instance, if a
substantive area of browse is observed, it can be inferred that species of ungulates are likely
to occur. This type of approach was used for the evaluation of wildlife habitat that occurs
rovithin the north berm.
The north berm was initially traversed and divided into four equal length segments
(referred to as Segment A through D progressing from the west boundary to the east
boundary). Information regarding species occurrence (both vegetation and wildlife) and
amount of cover provided by the vegetation was recorded. The field records are provided in
Attachment A.
The north berm as a whole was reviewed to determine habitat value for wildlife. Its
proximity to other habitat areas, thus acting as a corridor for wildlife activity was also
considered. Photographs for each segment were taken.
2.2 Results
The berm has an approximate average total height of 40 feet. The lateral extent of the berm
area to be impacted by the mining operations is 1000'. It is anorth-facing slope with a
spring and other perched water areas in the lower elevations. The area as a whole could be
defined as asemi-desert shrubland interspersed with montane shrubland species
• (Fitzgerald et al., 1990. Dominant plants include big sagebrush, mountain sagebrush, and
rabbitbrush. These shrublands are dominated by shrubs over a sparse understory of grasses
DEW8674 ppL