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f~ec~~:mY~~er 1. 2Q03 <br />Page 3-2 i <br />Since 2007, federal rule-making and Forest Service interim directives have guided management and <br />• decision making in IRAs. At this time, no specific direction is currently in place. <br />3.7.2 Environmental Consequences <br />Alternative 1 -Proposed Action <br />The extraction of coal on the West Flatiron LBA tract would not introduce any noticeable land use change <br />in the area. There would be no changes in the grazing activities on the LBA tract or surrounding areas. <br />No coal methane drainage wells would be installed on the surface of the LBA tract. Subsidence would not <br />alter the appearance of any area within the LBA tract. No surface facilities or surface construction are <br />planned for the LBA tract. <br />Cumulative Impacts: There would be no anticipated cumulative land use effects expected as a result of <br />mining from the LBA tract. Grazing, mining, mining related activities such as the continued operation and <br />installation of coal methane drainage wells in adjacent areas, and recreational activities would probably <br />remain the dominant land uses in the immediate area of the LBA tract. <br />Alternative 2 - No Action <br />Under the no action alternative, the land use of the LBA tract would not change. However, mining and <br />mining related activities would continue adjacent to the LBA tract. <br />3.8 Socioeconomics <br />• For socioeconomics, the project study area would include portions of Gunnison and Delta counties. The <br />cumulative impact area would include those same areas. <br />3.8.1 Existing Conditions <br />The West Flatiron LBA tract is located entirely in Gunnison County. Gunnison County receives <br />approximately $2 million annually in tax revenues from the West Elk Mine, which is also located in <br />Gunnison County. MCC is currently the largest property tax revenue source for Gunnison County. <br />Socioeconomic impacts from the West Elk Mine, and presumably from any extraction of coal in the West <br />Flatiron LBA tract, would generally be confined to Delta County (communities of Somerset, Paonia, <br />Hotchkiss) since most workers at the West Elk Mine reside in Delta County. <br />The February 2000 Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Iron Point Exploration License, Iron <br />Point Coal Lease Tract, and Elk Creek Coal Lease Tract (Forest Service and BLM, 2000) provides a <br />complete description of the socioeconomic environment in the area, with its focus on Delta County. <br />Other socioeconomic information for the area is set forth in the February 2002 Coal Methane Drainage <br />Project (Panels 16-24) EA (USDA Forest Service, 2002). <br />Delta County has a population of approximately 29,000 residents and recent annual population growth <br />has been approximately two to three percent. Based on April 1999 figures, the unemployment rate in <br />Delta County was approximately 5.9 percent, more than twice the statewide average of 2.7 percent. <br />F.rrv irft; irnenf~,. ,~5-~ ssrnen t <br />LP4~est Float+rc~~~ Li3>~ TYacr. <br />Gunr,isun Ceotat~,i, ~`olnrndo <br />