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i Some 60 years ago the Indian Creek mine, also known as the Routt-Pinnacle <br />mine, operated to the north of the mine area. This mine ceased operation in the <br />early 1920 s. The operation was that of an underground mine in the Pinnacle <br />seam. <br />The Pinnacle seam has been mined at Meadows No. 1, obtaining as nearly <br />complete a recovery as is practicable using standard strip-mining methods. This <br />mining started in 1977 and continued to 1980. <br />In the major portions of the permit area occupied by natural vegetation, a <br />variety of vegetation types occur, reflecting the influence of soils, topogra- <br />phy, exposure, and geologic factors. Communities in the area tend to intergrade <br />(follow a continuum); and, occasionally, smaller inclusions of one type are <br />• included within another (minimum mapping unit -- one to two acres). Yegetation <br />communities defined by reconnaissance mapping included: grassland, sagebrush, <br />Mountain Shrub 1, Mountain Shrub 2, aspen, Douglas fir, forb grass, wet meadow, <br />cottonwood, and revegetated. <br />Vegetative Communities <br />Sagebrush: Grassland communities occur on exposed ridgetops at higher ele- <br />vations, lower slopes, benches, and occasionally drainage bottoms. This com- <br />munity is dominated by three species of sagebrush. Occasionally, small <br />inclusions of grassland with as much as 50 percent cover by grass species may be <br />found within this type. Potential productivity of this type of community ranges <br />from 800 to 1,700 pounds per acre per year. <br />Mountain Shrub 1: Thickets cover 35 percent of the study area. The com- <br />munity ranges in height from 6 to 10 feet and is generally dominated by gambel <br />oak. Potential productivity of the Mountain Shrub 1 type is estimated to range <br />- 49 - (Rev. 5/86) <br />