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-37- <br /> A modification to the original approved topsoil redistribution plan for the <br /> steep cut slopes along portions of County Road 65 was requested by the <br /> permittee on May 24, 1982 and approved by the Division on June 3, 1982 as a <br /> minor revision to the permit. The modification involves deleting the <br /> topsoiling requirement on all rock cut slopes and the long steep cut slopes <br /> found along County Road 65. The operator felt, and the Division and County <br /> Engineer concurred, that there would be a high potential for soils to slip off <br /> the slopes into the drainages. All fill slopes sill be topsoiled as defined <br /> by the approved permit application. <br /> The operation is in compliance with the requirements of this section. <br /> XII. Vegetation - Rules 2.04.10, 2.05.4(2)(e) and 4.15 <br /> Information pertaining to 'affected area plant communities at the Deserado Mine <br /> is provided in section II.F, pages 1 through 76 of Volume 2 of the permit <br /> application. Maps 9 and 10 of Volume 5 of the application show the location <br /> and configuration of all plant communities in areas to be affected by surface <br /> operations and facilities. The permittee' s revegetaton plan is presented in <br /> Section V. I, pages 36 to 45 of Volume 4 of the application. Planting <br /> specifications are provided in Illustration 26 of Volume 12. <br /> Eight plant communities have been delineated on areas within portions of the <br /> permit area affected by surface operations and facilities. Vegetation <br /> communities consist of juniper woodland, juniper woodland-big sagebrush, big <br /> sagebrush, big sagebrush-wheatgrass, western wheatgrass, Colorado wildrye, <br /> cheatgrass-annual forb, and big sagebrush-greasewood. The communities <br /> comprise a mosaic of plant dominants controlled by soil type and topography. <br /> Further influence on vegetation composition and distribution has been exerted <br /> by past and present land uses. Overgrazing of much of the permit area has <br /> occurred. This overuse has adversely affected much of the natural <br /> vegetation. The result is a predominance of disturbed vegetation types that <br /> are successional or dysclimactic in character. <br /> The largest- Yegetation community to be disturbed by mining operations during <br /> the permit term is the Big Sagebrush-Western Wheatgrass type. A total of <br /> 111 .7 acres will be disturbed. Thirty one acres will be disturbed in the <br /> D-Portal Area, 27 acres will be disturbed by the refuse haul road, and <br /> approximately 43 acres will be disturbed by the four initial waste disposal <br /> units. This type might more properly be designated as big <br /> sagebrush-wildrye-western wheatgrass, since Colorado wildrye is the principal <br /> herbaceous sub-dominant. The detailed description of community structure and <br /> composition is provided on pages II. F39 of Volume 3 of the application. <br /> Cover and production data is presented in Table 7. <br /> Twenty-six acres in the cheatgrass-annual forb community and eighteen acres in <br /> the big sagebrush-greasewood community will be affected. Lesser amounts of <br /> disturbance will occur in western wheatgrass, big sagebrush, Colorado wildrye, <br /> juniper-big sagebrush, and juniper woodland communities. <br /> Pursuant to Rule 2.07.6(2)(n) , the Division has determined that no threatened <br /> or endangered species of plants exist within areas to be affected by the <br /> Deserado Mine surface operations and facilities. <br /> I <br />