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• Introduction <br />At the request of Ms. Angela Bellantoni of Environmental Alternatives Inc. (EAI) and permitting <br />agent of the Northfield Mine Project, baseline vegetation sampling was conducted during the <br />summer of 2007 on proposed mine disturbance areas and corresponding reference areas located <br />at the proposed Northfield Mine located on Fremont County Road 79 adjacent to Chandler <br />Creek, approximately one half mile west of the intersection of Fremont County Roads 11 A and <br />79. This site is location approximately two miles west of the City of Florence, Fremont County, <br />Colorado. <br />The locations of the proposed Northfield Mine Facilities area is shown on Map 3, Northfield <br />Vegetation Map. This baseline vegetation sampling effort was prepared with the intention of <br />satisfying the baseline vegetation sampling requirements of the existing coal mine regulations. <br />Mr. Kent Crofts of 1ME, who has conducted numerous previous vegetation sampling efforts at <br />the Southfield Mine, located approximately eight miles to the south of this site and numerous <br />other mine sites in Colorado in the past 30 years, directly supervised all field investigations. <br />Assisting in this sampling effort was Mr. Aaron Halting, who acted as the field party chief and <br />field GPS technician and was responsible for determining all of the transect locations using the <br />Trimble Model Pro XRS Global Positioning System.l3oth individuals perfon~ned all of the field <br />sampling and data analysis. <br />• Methods <br />Maps, in both electronic and hard paper format of all of the proposed mine areas to be sampled <br />in this vegetation monitoring effort were supplied by Mr. Allen Weaver of Weaver Engineering <br />Services, who has designed the proposed mine facilities area, also delineated to the field crew, <br />the exact extent of the proposed mine facilities area at the proposed Northfield Mine Project <br />area. The specific sampling methodologies used in this evaluation are those found in the <br />Division's "Guidelines with Land Use and' Vegetation Regrurernents of tke Colorado Mined <br />Land Reclamation Board for Coal Mining" issued in Junc of 1988 and the "Guidelines <br />Regarding Selected Coal Mine Bond Release Issues" issued April 18, 1995. In addition to these <br />guidelines, the revised regulations formally adopted September 14, 2005 by the Colorado <br />Division of Minerals and Geology (DMG now called the Colorado Division of Reclamation, <br />Mining and Safety DRMS) as Section 4.15.11 and corresponding documents were used with <br />respect to sample adequacy calculations and statistical comparisons. A detailed map of the <br />vegetation types found within one half mile of the proposed mine facilities area was submitted <br />previously as Map 3, Northfield Mine -Vegetation Map. This map shows the location of the <br />proposed mine facilities and associated disturbance areas. An enlarged map showing the details <br />of the proposed mine facilities disturbance area is found on the enclosed map entitled <br />"Northfield Mine -Vegetation Transect Locations Map." This map shows the location of all <br />vegetation types to be affected within the proposed mine facilities area, the location of each <br />vegetation transect location used to evaluate plant cover, herbaceous production as well as shrub <br />density. <br />• <br />