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3.0 Results <br />~.1 Location & Topography <br />Cameo refuse disposal areas number 2 and 3 and the borrow area (Photo 2) all occur west of the <br />Colorado River in Coal Canyon. These sites, totaling 125 acres in size, include the relatively flat canyon <br />bottom and steep southwest and northeast facing slopes. Elevations range from a high of 5,288 to a low <br />of 4,840 feet. <br />The small two acre fan installation site occurs east of the Colorado River on a moderately steep slope <br />with exposures to the southwest, west and north. Elevations range from a high of 5,158 to a low of <br />5,095. <br />The 2 west portals site occur (Photo 3) about a mile south of the fan installation site, on a steep <br />landscape bisected by dry drainages which carry stormwater to the west. The elevation of this t 5 acre <br />site ranges from a high of 5,320 to a low of 5,250 feet. <br />3.2 Vegetation Types <br />The steep, dry and often unstable, slopes of all sites are characterized by a shadscale (Atriplex <br />confertifolial shrubland vegetation type. A greasewood (Sarcobatus vermiculatus) shrubland integrates <br />into the shadscale community at the lower elevation of the Cameo Refuse Disposal Area. The <br />greasewood vegetation type covers a relatively small portion of the survey site along Coal Canyon. <br />Major shrubs present in the shadscale and greasewood communities include snakeweed (Gutierrezia <br />• sarothrae), fourwing saltbush (Atriplex canescens), big sagebrush (Artemfsia trldentatal, and rabbitbrush <br />(Chrysothamnus nauseosus). Dominant grasses present include Indian ricegrass (Oryzopsis hymenoides), <br />Salina wildrye (Leymus salinus), and cheatgrass (8romus tedorum). Forbs identified on the survey sites <br />include gumweed (Crindelia squarrosa), crane's bill (Erodium cicutarium), Cryptantha spp., wooly <br />plantain (Plantago patagonica), whitetop (Cardaria chalepensis), low fleabane (Erigeron pumilus), and <br />wooly butterrveed (Senecio cana). Cactus species identified at the study site include prickly pear <br />(Opuntla polyacantha), hedgehog callus (Echinocereus triglochidiatus), and bearclaw (Scferocactus <br />whipplei var. intermedius). Juniper (/uniperus osteosperma) trees are scattered, predominantly at the <br />higher elevation and near small drainages. <br />Tables 2 and 6 of Appendix D provides a quantative description of the greasewood and shadscale <br />shrubland vegetation types as completed for the Baseline Vegetation Study by David Johnson of Western <br />Ecological Resource in 1982. <br />3.3 Description and Ecology of Endangered Plants <br />3.3.1 Uinta Basin hookless cactus (Sclerocadus g/aucus) <br />Uinta Basin hookless cactus is a perennial ball cactus about 2-3 inches in diameter. The spines on Uinta <br />Basin hookless cactus lack hooks and is generally smaller than the more common species (Sclerocactus <br />whlpple+). However, some of the herbarium specimens were identified as being from a hooked <br />population of plants. The green-gray color, which blends with the rocks of its habitat, make this cactus <br />• <br />