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J.E. Stover & Associates, Inc December 5, 2007 Page 3 Breeding Bird Atlas, Mammals of Colorado, CDOW habitat maps, U.S. Forest Service (USFS) habitat maps, Colorado Herpetofaunal Atlas,' Amphibians and Reptiles in Colorado, and the Colorado Rare Plant Field Guide. Physical and Ecological Setting The Bowie No. 1 Mine is an underground coal mine with a permit boundary encompassing 8,670 acres, including a permitted area of surface disturbance of 155.1 acres, within Sections 1, 2, 3, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 22, 23, 24, and 25, all in Townshipl3 South, Range 92 West of the 6th Principle Meridian, and within Sections 5, 6, 7, 8, 17, 18, 19, 29, 30, 31, and 32, all in Township 13 South, Range 91 West of the 6 Principal Meridian, Delta County, Colorado (Figure 1). Approximately 6,752 surface acres within the mine boundary are privately owned and 1,918 surface acres are public lands administered by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (Figure 1). The mine is currently in reclamation. Most of the mine's surface infrastructure has been removed, and approximately 59 acres of disturbed land have been backfilled, re- graded, and reseeded. Ten sediment ponds encompassing approximately 1.17 acres of total surface area, remain in the permitted area of surface disturbance (Figure 2). The Bowie No. 1 Mine boundary encompasses a gently - sloping narrow terrace of undifferentiated Holocene and Pleistocene deposits in the valley of the North Fork River at approximately 5,600 feet above mean sea level, rising north into steep hills of the upper Cretaceous Mesaverde formation (sandstone, siltstone, and shale) to nearly 9,150 feet in elevation above the river valley (Figure 1). The majority of the mine's surface disturbance and above - ground activities occurred on the lower elevation river terrace (load -out facilities) and on benches on the south - facing slopes of the first tier of steep hills north of the North Fork River (portals). The remainder of the mine boundary area harbors the underground workings of Bowie No. 1 Mine. Stevens Gulch Road, a public road, and a buried aqueduct cross north to south through the center of the mine permit area, and Johnson Road traverses the west portion of the mine permit area. Numerous jeep roads are present throughout, providing access to private lands and cabins within the permit boundary. State Highway 133 bounds a portion of the load -out area on the North Fork River valley floor. The mine permit boundary encompasses a bridge crossing of the North Fork River within the load - out area, and the load -out area lies within a few hundred feet of the North Fork River for an approximately 1 mile reach of the river. The riparian corridor in this reach of river is relatively narrow and confined, compared to upstream and downstream reaches, and is vegetated with mixed stands of native narrowleaf and Rio Grande cottonwoods, willows, and other native and naturalized riparian shrubs. Land use surrounding the load -out area is agricultural and rural - residential, with little native vegetation. The steep hills in the majority of the mine permit area support Gambel oak mixed 3 Kingery, H.E. (Editor). 1998. Colorado Breeding Bird Atlas. Denver: Co. Bird Atlas Partnership & Co. Division of Wildlife. 636 pp. 4 Fitzgerald, J.P., C.A. Meaney, D.M. Armstrong. 1994. Mammals of Colorado. Niwot, Colorado: Univ. Press of Co. 467 pp. 5 Habitat maps available at http: / /ndis .nrel.colostate.edu /index.html 6 U.S. Forest Service. 2006. Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, Gunnison National Forests Lynx Habitat Map. Updated February, 2006. 7 Colorado Herpetofaunal Atlas. Available online at http: / /ndis.nrel. colostate .edu /herpatlas /coherpatlas/ 8 Hammerson, G.A. 1999. Amphibians and Reptiles in Colorado: A Colorado Field Guide. 2nd Ed. Denver: University Press of Colorado 0 & CDOW. 494 pp. 9 CRPTC (Colorado Rare Plant Technical Committee). 1999. Colorado Rare Plant Field Guide. Available at hftp://www.cnhp.colostate.edu/rareplants/cover.html. RARE EARTh SCIENCE, LLC