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<br />developing the BLM Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Yankee Gulch <br />Sodium Minerals Project (Yankee Gulch Project) Commercial Mine Plan (Mine Plan). <br />A summary ofproject-related vegetation disturbance is provided in Table J-2. The table <br />gives the total acreages estimated to be disturbed for constuction (temporary <br />disturbance), mining operations, and project facilities (long-term disturbance) for the <br />Piceance Site, the pipeline corridor, and the Parachute Site, broken down by vegetation <br />type. Again, this table summarizes information compiled in the process of developing <br />the BLM Draft EIS for the Yankee Gulch Project Mine Plan. <br />J.1 Piceance Site <br />Impacts to vegetation at the Piceance Site would be dominated by disturbance related to <br />development of the solution mining well field over the proposed 30-year project life. <br />Disturbance will be based on development of discrete geographical areas at <br />approximately 5-year intervals ("5-year mining panels"), with subsequent reclamation <br />on a revolving basis as mine panels are retired. Such development would involve a <br />total of approximately 483 acres over the life of the project. Long-term disturbance to <br />accommodate project facilities such as the initial processing plant, the evaporation <br />pond, and access roads would total an additional approximately 72 acres at the Piceance <br />Site. Construction activities for installation of the project piping system, an electrical <br />transmission line, and a natural gas line would result in temporary disturbance of 219 <br />acres of Piceance Site vegetation. The latter areas would be reclaimed immediately after <br />completion of construction activities. <br />Dominant plant communities occurring at the Piceance Site include the Pinyon-Juniper <br />Association, Chained Pinyon-Juniper Community, Sagebrush Association, Barren/Rock <br />Outcrop Association, and Greasewood Association. These five major plant <br />communities make up about 94 percent of the Piceance Site; the remaining 6 percent <br />includes small areas of mountain grasslands, Douglas-fir, irrigated agricultural land, <br />and halophytic shrublands. The distribution of these vegetation types over the Piceance <br />Site is illustrated in the vegetation map provided in Figure J-1. The irregular-shaped <br />polygons outlined in black represent the 5-year mining panels, the areas where solution <br />minitng will occur. <br />Pinyc+n Juniper Association -The Pinyon-Juniper Association occurs on a wide range <br />of soils, elevations, and exposures and is limited primarily by semi-arid or cool- <br />mesic climatic conditions and saline-alkaline soils. This vegetation type <br />apparently has a competitive advantage over other vegetation types and is the <br />climax association on xeric ridgetops with shallow soils (BLM 1994). <br />The Pinyon-Juniper Association is characterized by low-growing pinyon pine <br />and Utah juniper woodlands. At the Piceance Site, the overstory varies from <br />spazse {20 to 50 percent cover) to open (50 to 80 percent cover) woodland, and <br />understory shrub and grass-forb productivity generally varies inversely with <br />J-z <br />