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• <br />11.0 EXHIBIT J - VEGETATION INFORMATION <br />Introduction <br />The Morton property is located west of Ft. Lupton on the south side of Colorado <br />Highway 52 west of the South Platte River. Most of the site consists of agricultural land, <br />however some native vegetation occurs along Big Dry Creek which crosses the southeast part of <br />the site. The property appears to have had a long history of agricultural use. Most of the upland <br />areas away from the channel of Big Dry Creek are used as irrigated and non irrigated croplands <br />and pastures. The areas near Big Dry Creek show evidence of having at one time been <br />developed as improved pastures. In recent years, it appear that changes in local hydrology <br />related to irrigation and waste water return flows have raised the water table in the southeastern <br />part of the site. <br />Field Reconnaissance <br />Evaluation of the vegetation on the Morton Pit site was conducted on August 12, 2008. <br />Field work consisted of conducting a reconnaissance of the different vegetation types on the site, <br />developing list of species for each of the vegetation types and making observations on the major <br />species. Brief descriptions of the vegetation types are presented in the following section. The <br />location of the different vegetation types are shown on the vegetation map for the area. Photos <br />of the different types are presented at the end of this report. <br />Vegetation Information <br />Vegetation Type Descriptions. The following vegetation types were observed and mapped <br />on the site. Species observed in these areas are listed in Table J-1. <br />Pastures. Most of the upland portions of the Morton site consist of pastures developed for <br />cattle grazing (Map 1). The southwestern pasture was formerly irrigated, but now consists of a <br />dryland pasture with alfalfa (Medicago sativa). The northeast pasture (Photo J-2) is mostly <br />0