2010-03-11_REVISION - C1980007 (2)

Home Browse Search

Township 13 South, Range 90 West 6th P.M. Section 15 The above-mentioned tracts of land are also shown on USGS 7.5 minute quadrangle map of Somerset. The Refuse Pile Expansion, East Area will be constructed on an area in an unnamed Gulch laying between Sylvester Gulch to the west and Box Canyon to the east. General elevations in the area range from 7,521 to 6,400 feet above mean sea level and the area is drained by a single unnamed ephemeral drainage running generally north-northeast to the North Fork of the Gunnison River. Vegetation in the area mainly consists of an oakbrush community of Gamble's oak (Quercus gambelii). The existing coal waste disposal area is located in the northwest corner of the proposed Refuse Pile Expansion, East Area. Canada lynx The Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis), is a medium-sized cat with long legs, well furred paws, long tufts on the ears, and a short black tipped tail. Adult males average 22 pounds and thirty-three inches in length head to tail. Adult females average nineteen pounds and measure thirty-two inches in length. Suitable habitat includes primary habitat of coniferous forests of spruce and fir or lodgepole pine, and secondary habitat of aspen or Douglas-fir mixed with the primary habitat at elevations between 8,000 and 11,500 feet. Lynx also periodically traverse other forested and non-forested habitats including lower elevation woodlands and shrublands. Suitable lynx habitat has been delineated, based on existing vegetation, on approximately ten percent in scattered patches in the southern and eastern portions of the permit area. The habitat is nearly all secondary habitat of aspen and Douglas-fir, naturally fragmented and at the edges of larger habitat areas at higher elevations in the West Elk Mountains. No lynx have been documented within or adjacent to the permit area. Although no suitable habitat is located in the area of TR-120 lynx could traverse the area to access suitable habitat. Therefore, OSM has determined that TR-120 "may effect but is unlikely to adversely effect" the continued existence of the Canada lynx. Umcompahgre fritillary butterfly The Uncompahgre fritillary (Boloria acrocnema) is a small butterfly with a 1 inch wingspan. Males have rusty brown wings criss-crossed with black bars; females' wings are somewhat lighter. Underneath, the forewing is light ocher and the hindwing has a bold, white jagged bar dividing the crimson brown inner half from the purple-grey scaling on the outer wing surface. The body has a rusty brown thorax and a brownish black. The Uncompahgre fritillary has the smallest total range of any North American butterfly species. Its habitat is limited to two verified major sites and two possible small colonies in the San Juan Mountains and southern Sawatch Range in Gunnison, Hinsdale, and possibly Chaffee counties in southwestern Colorado. All populations known are associated with large patches of snow