2008-06-09_REVISION - C1980007 ‎(3)‎

• Permit No: C1980007
• IBM Index Class Name: Revision
• Doc Date: 6/9/2008
• Doc Name: Revised Pages Part 2
• Type & Sequence: TR111
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

Vegetation
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as administered by the CDRMS with. oversight
from the OSM, which govern. all direct effects
of coal ).Wining, including those that may
impact soils. These acts and attendant
regulations require that topsoil. be removed,
stockpiled, and replaced on reclaimed surfaces
associated with construction or mining
disturbance. Other impacts to the soil resource
that may occur as a result of mining, including
landslides and erosion, must be mitigated to
stabilize the surface and return the land to an
approved post-mining land use.
Vegetation
Affected Environment
Upland Vegetation
The analysis area for vegetation resources is
the project area. Dominant vegetation types in
the project area is predominantly woodlarids
dominated by Gambel oak (Quercus ganzbelii)
with an estimated coverage of 3,903 acres and
forest dominated by quaking aspen (Populus
t~•enauloides) with an approximate coverage of
1,754 acres (Table 3-4) (Figure 10). Dense
stands of oak occur on the more xeric, south-
facing slopes and have a brushy understory
dominated by serviceberry (Amelanchie~~ sp.),
snowberry, and chokecherry (Prunus
virginiana), and thin to moderate ground cover
of grass and low forbs. Aspen stands dominate
the mesic, northerly aspects and often have a
shrub understory predominately consisting of
snowberry (SynzphoricaYpos spp.) (Greystone
2001). Interspersed with this habitat type are
open sagebrush (Artemesia spp.) meadows and
small stands of aspen (Greystone 2001). Acres
of each cover type found in the potential well
pad window, ventilation shaft location, and
staging area sites are presented in Table 3-4.
MDW pad windows over estimate the
disturbance associated with pad construction
and provide a way to analyze all possible
vegetation types potentially impacted by
MDW construction.
Table 3-4
Acres of Vegetation Cover Types In The
Project Area

Cover Type Project Area
Acres
Barren 2
Herbaceous 15
Gambel oak 3,903
Shrub 115
Willow 55
Quaking aspen 1.,754
Pinyon and juniper 64
Spruce and subalpine fir 74
Water 18
Source: GIS derived acres based on CVU vegetation layer.
Riparian Vegetation
Forest Service Manuals on Watershed
Protection and Wildlife, Fish, and Sensitive
Plant Habitat Management defines riparian
areas as geographically delineable areas with
distinctive resource values and characteristics of
aquatic and riparian ecosystems (with the
riparian ecosystems as transition areas between
the aquatic ecosystem and the adjacent
terrestrial ecosystem), identified by soil
characteristics or distinctive vegetation
communities that require free or unbound water.
Wetlands differ from riparian ecosystems
because wetlands require saturated or seasonally
saturated soils with obligate plants (Cowardin
and others 1979). Approximately seven acres of
marsh are located along the Dry Fork of
Minnesota Creek, the majority of which are just
upstream from Minnesota Reservoir. In
addition, there are four intermittent lakes in the
project area which likely support wetland
habitat. Three of the lakes are located along
Lick Creek along the southern project area
boundary, the fourth intermittent lake is east of
Poison Gulch; combined, the lakes account for 1
acre of possible wetland habitat. These lakes are
fed by snowmelt and monsoon rainfall. Wetland
Deer Creek Ventilation Shaft and E Seam Methane Drainage Wells FEIS
79