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4-91 rains occur cl • which develop but generally snows of from seldom remain Ziefly as scattered light showers from thunderstorms over mountains. Winter snows are fairly frequent light, and quickly melt off. Even the infrequent 4 to 8 inches, which are heavy for this locality, on the ground for prolonged periods. .Relative humidity is very low during the summer and winds are usually very light during the coldest weather. Changes in win- ter are generally gradual, and abrupt changes are much less frequent than in eastern Colorado. "Cold waves" are rare. Sunny days predominate in all seasons. The study site is located in the Saltbush-Greasewood and Juniper- Pinyon Woodland potential natural vegetation types as mapped by Kuchler (1966); the Northern Desert Shrub and Conifer Woodland phase of the Desert and Conifer Biomes, respectively, as des- cribed by Hylander (1966); and the Cold Desert communities (Pinyon-Juniper and Shadscale) as described by Shelfore (1963). • 4.5.2.2 Description of Vegetation The permit revision area is characterized by six vegetation types, three of which also occur within the Munger Canyon Mine permit area. The salty soil areas along East Salt Creek are character- ized by a Greasewood Shrubland vegetation type. Hay fields are common to many areas along East Salt Creek which were once in greasewood. The Greasewood vegetation type is replaced by a Saltbush Cheatgrass vegetation type in the small drainage basins emptying into East Salt Creek. The steep north-facing slopes of these drainage basins are dominated by a Saltbush Wildrye vegetation type while a Gardner Saltbush type occurs on the unstable and shaley south-facing slopes of the drainage basin. Juniper Woodland occurs on the shallow rocky soils of upland areas. The Greasewood, Juniper Woodland, Agricultural, and Shadscale • Shrubland vegetation types also occur within the existing Munger