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Additional Discussion of Resources <br />in Disturbed b Adjacent Areas <br />Since mining activity and disturbance within our <br />permit area predates the author's personal experience <br />(prior to 1 May 1977) solicitation was made to Mr. Sam <br />Haslem, County Extension Director who has many years <br />of experience in our area of Routt County. Mr. Haslem <br />again visited our mine area in April of 1981. The following <br />comments resulted from this visit: <br />"The premined land use of the area utilized by <br />surface operations and facilities for Sunland Mining Corp's <br />mine on Trout Creek was hard to determine historically. <br />Part of the reason is that some of the mining took place <br />in that area over fifty (50) years ago. Still other factors <br />are that we don't have any aerial photos of the valley that <br />go back a long period of time. <br />On my inspsecion of the area it appears to me that this <br />area consists of material that was washed in by Trout Creek <br />and some that slid down the side of the hills close to the <br />site. All of this was affected by old beaver dams and <br />beaver lodges in the area. The area was cut up in the bottom <br />of the valley in what was probably an old slough or beaver <br />• area where beavers changed the course of the creek and <br />certainly undermined much of the brush and browse that was <br />in the area. <br />This area is narrow in width and meets very abrupt steep <br />slopes on each side. From the looks of the area I am sure <br />Trout Creek has found many new courses throughout the valley <br />over the years, from flooding, trash being washed down and <br />from beaver activity so essentially the area was probably <br />very much a swamp and quite wet. <br />The primary trees and shrubs at the bottom of the valley <br />are Narrow Leaf Cottonwood (Populus Angustrifolia), Willows <br />(Salix spp) and Thin Leaf Alder (Alnus Tenuifolia). These <br />are all Phreatophytes, or water using trees and shrubs and so <br />they indicate the area was quite swampy for some period of <br />time. <br />The steep hillsides on each side of Trout Creek are covered <br />primarily with Gambles Oak (Quercus Gambeli) on the north- <br />west side and on the southeast side, Aspen (Populus Tremuloides). <br />• <br />~06/Of~B~ <br />-3,5 <br />