2010-05-07_PERMIT FILE - C2009087 (16)

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1 Indicator status obtained from USDA Plants Database web site (http: / /plants.usda.gov) Accessed 10/22/09. 2 The 1996 National List of Vascular Plant Species That Occur in Wetlands (Reed, 1997) lists Bromus inermis with an indicator status of NI. The physically next nearest region (Region 9, Northwest) lists it with an indicator status of FAC *. It was determined that using an indicator status of FAC for B. inermis in the region in which the delineation was performed 9 would be inappropriate, as Region 9 and Region 8 represent quite different ecosystems. In Region 8, the role B. inermis plays is more likely FACU, as it is listed in adjacent Regions 5 and 6. Therefore, B. inermis is assigned an indicator status of FACU for this delineation. In some areas, grazing activity by cattle has disturbed the vegetation near wetland areas. These areas were treated as "problem areas" when completing the wetland delineation data forms. Soils The soils within the delineated wetland areas in the Study Area represent aspects of the "Arid West Region" and the "Western Mountains, Valleys, and Coast Region," but tended to be more representative of those typifying the Arid West Region as exemplified by such features as surface salt crusts and low organic matter content. Soils of the Study Area are mostly mineral in nature and consist mostly of alluvium /colluvium derived from the nearby sandstone and shale cliffs and rock outcrops (Photograph 1). Soil Map Units present in delineated areas in the Study Area and their hydric status are included in Table 2. Soil pits from the wetland delineation are shown on Map 2. Soils of the •Study Area and surrounding areas are shown in Map 3. Table 2. Study Area Soils and Hydric Status (Soil Survey Staff, 2009) Map Unit Symbol Map Unit Name Hydric Status ML Mined Land, Arents Hydric Status Unknown 27A Middlecreek loam, 1 to 10 percent slopes Not Hydric 50F Routt loam, warm, 25 to 65 percent slopes Partially Hydric* 52A Menbar loam, 0 to 3 percent slopes Partially Hydric* 66F Foidel loam, 25 to 65 percent slopes Not Hydric 103 Cryoborolls, cryorthents soils, rock outcrop, 25 to 99 percent slopes Hydric Status Unknown 110 Elkhead clay loam, 0 to 5 percent slopes Hydric Status Unknown 120 Phippsberg clay loam, 25 to 65 percent slopes Not Hydric *85% or more of mapping unit listed as hydric. Since the time of soil mapping many of the areas within the eastern area of the Study Area have been mined and reclaimed. Soils in these areas are known as "ML — Mined Lands — Arents." Soils in some of the swales in the palustrine emergent wetlands of the Study Area showed evidence of saturation at depths 0. ess than 30 cm. Soils showed a gradual increase in intensity in redoxomorphic features as one approached wetlands from the uplands and the mineral subsoil decreased in matrix chroma from 3 -2 to 2 -1 as the soil pits approached wetland