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2009-04-22_PERMIT FILE - C1981019A
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2009-04-22_PERMIT FILE - C1981019A
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Last modified
8/24/2016 3:45:47 PM
Creation date
5/11/2009 1:52:46 PM
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Template:
DRMS Permit Index
Permit No
C1981019A
IBM Index Class Name
Permit File
Doc Date
4/22/2009
Section_Exhibit Name
2.05 Operations and Reclamation Plans
Media Type
D
Archive
Yes
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RULE 2 PERMITS <br />Disturbed Areas <br />Disturbed acreage has been kept to a minimum in the permit area by proper planning for the location of <br />mine support facilities, haul roads, and pit advance. The mining methods, as discussed in Section 2.05.3, <br />allow for a minimum amount of disturbance on an annual basis (less than 100 acres per pit), when <br />compared to strictly one or two seam mines with similar production levels which disturb several hundred <br />acres annually per pit. Topsoil and vegetation are removed during the summer and fall months to allow <br />for only enough disturbance to facilitate mining advance through June of the following year. <br />Habitat Improvement Program <br />Prior to start-up of mining, Colowyo initiated a big game habitat improvement program in January 1976. <br />The purpose of this on-going program was to increase range carrying capacity by increasing available <br />browse and increased access to herbaceous species. Another objective of the program was to provide <br />increased forage on selected undisturbed areas on and adjacent to the mine site to draw wildlife away <br />from newly reclaimed areas until the vegetation became established. A third benefit was to improve <br />enough habitat prior to and during mining in order to offset the temporary loss of habitat from mining. <br />The technique for habitat improvement involved using a rubber tired or tracked dozer during the winter <br />months, preferably when there was minimal snow cover and the ground was frozen, to shear off the <br />dormant shrubs a few inches above ground level. <br />The shrubs tended to shear or break off easily when the ground was frozen leaving the root systems <br />undisturbed. During the following spring, vigorous new growth from root sprouting occurred, and easy <br />access was provided for deer and elk. This technique has had the additional effect of allowing grasses and <br />f orbs to establish stands that will compete with the shrub, thus suppressing growth to a height useable by <br />wildlife. Approximately 30 acres of overmature decadent shrubs, i.e., serviceberry, oak, and chokecherry <br />was "brushed" on an annual basis through 1986. <br />Although no specific data has been collected on these areas, general observations have shown that the <br />areas are heavily utilized by both deer and elk. On all of the areas, any new shrub sprouting is kept down <br />to a height of only a few inches. The one acre plot that was cleared of vegetation and fenced in 1977 for <br />testing by the Meeker Environmental Plant Center can be used as a good comparison of the differences <br />between browsed and unbrowsed areas that have had similar treatments. Several of the unbrowsed shrubs <br />that have grown up from root sprouting in the Plant Center plot have attained heights of up to four feet in <br />just a few years. Over a five year period, we feel the cumulative effects of improving 50-75 acres per year <br />for deer and elk use has been increasingly successful in meeting the objectives of increasing available <br />forage and drawing wildlife away from reclaimed areas. <br />This wildlife mitigation program is considered a success and was discontinued at permit renewal as <br />reclaimed areas are now attracting a large population of local wildlife populations. Also, suitable areas <br />within the permit for this mitigation had been increasingly difficult to find. Much of the habitat suitable <br />for improvement had already been completed. <br />Sagegrouse Mitigation <br />In a preliminary findings document dated December 11, 1981, the Division requested additional <br />information on sagegrouse use of the Colowyo permit area and a description of habitat mitigation <br />measures. Colowyo submitted the following response, dated May 25, 1982, which satisfied the remaining <br />concerns of the Division. <br />Rule 2 Permits 2.05-38 Revision Date: 6/23/08 <br />Revision No.: MR-91
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