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7 <br />October 14, 1998 <br />Mr.lim Stover <br />J.E. Stover & Associates <br />2768 Compass Drive, Suite 101 <br />Grand Junction, CO 81506 <br />RE: Vegetation Survey at Proposed New Pond B, Bowie Mine # 2 (C-96-083). <br />Dear Mr. Stover, <br />Twice in 1998, I visited the area that you are proposing for the construction of <br />New Pond B and its inflow ditch. I looked at it briefly in June and then examined it more <br />thoroughly on September 4. It was appropriate that I examine the potentially disturbed <br />azea as I personally carried out all the baseline sampling for the mine in 1995. I am very <br />familiar with the previously undisturbed mine vegetation, including the portion located just <br />across old State Highway 133 from the area that you are proposing to disturb (see "Lower <br />Meadow" in Map No. 03 -Bowie No. 2 Mine; Vegetation). I am therefore able to assess <br />how similaz the mapped vegetation is with the newly proposed area. <br />I initially visited the Pond B area on June 24, 1998 before you were certain of the <br />exact extent of the proposed disturbance. A short examination of the area convinced me <br />that the vegetation was very similar to the community that has been disturbed in the <br />• stockpile azea along old highway 133 immediately west of the engineering office. That <br />Lower Meadow community was sampled in 1995 and is described on pages 16 through 20 <br />of the baseline study `Bowie Number 2 Mine; 1995 Baseline Vegetation Report: <br />December, 1995", with summary cover data in Tables B3 and B6. The Lower Meadow <br />vegetation, which composed 10.1 of the 15.6 acres of disturbed meadow community that <br />was sampled, had a high absolute cover (89.2%) that was dominated by annual, biennial, <br />and noxious species. Only 41% absolute cover was composed of perennial, non-noxious <br />species. In fact, over 50% of the vegetation in the disturbed community in the Lower <br />Meadow was contributed by cheatgrass (Arrisarrtha tectonrm), Japanese brome (Bromrrs <br />japonicas), yellow sweetclover (Melilotus offrcinalis), and bindweed (Convolvrrlns <br />arvensis). The dominant perennial, non-noxious species was alfalfa (A~ledicago saliva), <br />accompanied by much smaller amounts of Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis), sweet pea <br />(La[hynrs latijolirrs), and orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerota). The Lower Meadow west <br />of the engineering office included several foundations formerly associated with the <br />townsite of Bowie, which indicated a long history of disturbance. As a result, vegetation <br />was somewhat patchy and contained several domestic species (i.e., sweet pea, liliac, <br />orange poppy). The Lower Meadow immediately south of the office was more consistent <br />and was almost completely composed of alfalfa and cheatgrass in equivalent proportions. <br />The proposed disturbance will be under 1.7 acres in extent. It will consist of a <br />pond and a ditch feeding into it from the east along the old highway. The ditch and pond <br />areas presently have similar vegetation, though the former contains a greater element of <br />roadside species. The species that I encountered on September 4 are listed in the enclosed <br />chart along with the species that were sampled in the Lower Meadow in 1995. The <br />. vegetation of the pond and ditch areas are similar to each other and to the vegetation of <br />the Lower Meadow and would have been mapped as disturbed meadow vegetation had <br />the area been considered in 1995. The proposed areas are both dominated by alfalfa, <br />