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<br />bottomlands is evident during the first half of April when large congregations of deer <br />forage along the length of Piceance Creek. Deer remain abundant at the Piceance Site <br />through April but are essentially absent from the area by late May. Use of winter <br />ranges varies from year to year depending on herd sizes and winter weather conditions. <br />The pipeline corridor passes through different mule deer habitat types. All of the <br />pipeline corridor in Rio Blanco County and much of the southern portion of the pipeline <br />corridor in Garfield County is classified as either winter range or severe winter range. <br />Severe winter range is generally located close to the Piceance Creek floodplain and in <br />tributary valleys and is encountered near the Piceance Site. Summer range areas are <br />restricted to the higher-elevation ridgetops along Barnes Ridge in the extreme northern <br />part of Garfield County. The Parachute Site itself is an existing, inactive industrial site <br />that does not contain any significant mule deer habitat. <br />Im acts Development of the commercial Yankee Gulch Sodium Minerals Project <br />(Yankee Gulch Project) would result in direct loss of mule deer wintering habitat at the <br />Piceance Site. Limited habitat loss will be associated with the long-term use of the <br />Piceance Site processing facilities area and the Piceance Site evaporation pond. These <br />areas and the major access roads would be reclaimed some time in the future at the end <br />of the commercial mining phase. <br />Much larger areas of habitat would be directly impacted for shorter periods of time <br />during development of the commercial mine well field. Disturbance within the well <br />field will be based on development of discrete geographical areas at approximately 5- <br />year intervals ("5-year mining panels"), with subsequent reclamation on a revolving <br />basis as mine panels are retired. The amount of land within each of the 5-year mining <br />panels ranges from 125 acres to 209 acres and averages about 172 acres. It is estimated <br />that approximately half of the vegetation within each mining panel would be cleared <br />for construction of well pads, temporary access roads, and the piping system. The <br />primary habitat type that would be impacted by development of the mining panels is <br />pinyon-juniper woodland (see Exhibit J). <br />The mining panels are relatively small areas on isolated ridgetops, and they would be <br />developed sequentially over time. The primary impact affecting mule deer at these <br />locations would be loss of pinyon-juniper woodlands that provide shrub species for <br />browse, hiding cover, and thermal cover during winter. Eventual recolonization of <br />reclaimed areas by native vegetation and natural successional processes will be <br />important in the long-term re-establishment of mule deer wintering habitat at the <br />Piceance Site. <br />It is likely that reclamation of a particular mining panel will not commence until the end <br />of that 5-year mining interval. Usable forage is expected to be reestablished within 5 to <br />10 years after initiation of revegetation efforts. Therefore, at any one time, mule deer <br />H-2 <br />