2011-09-28_PERMIT FILE - X201123500

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Appendix D Little Snake River Area Description of Land Affected Location & Access The exploration permit application area is located in northwest Colorado approximately 40 miles north of Craig, Colorado in Moffat County. Route 13 dissects the exploration area and serves as the primary access road to the project area. The exploration area contains numerous county roads most of which serve as direct access routes to the drill sites. County routes 2, 2N, 4 and 101, will be utilized to access most of the planned sites. Unnamed dirt roads will be used for the access to sites 4, 5 and 8. Linc Energy selected the drill sites along existing roads to minimize surface disturbance. Many of the drill pad sites themselves are located in areas that have been previously disturbed. The pads will be placed as close as practical to the roads but small access corridors might be needed at some select sites. A short ramp and fence crossing will be needed at site 10. The services at the towns of Baggs, Wyoming and Craig, Colorado will be used by the exploration team. Climate, topography, and drainage The climate of the area ranges from arid to subhumid and with rainfall ranging from 7 to over 20 inches per year. The topography consists of rolling hills dissected by numerous intermittent streams. These intermittent streams flow northerly into the Little Snake River located along the Colorado Wyoming border. The Little Snake River is a west- southwest flowing tributary of the Yampa River. Site 10 is really the only hole relatively close to the Little Snake River. Local relief between drainages and adjacent hills or ridges typically is 200 to 300 feet. The gentle to moderate terrain is easily traversed with field vehicles. A significant steep topographic break occurs at the state boarder. Aerial photos of each planned site are included in Appendix D. Topsoil The topsoil is relatively thin in the higher regions of the area but can get much thicker in the lowlands such as along the floodplain of the Little Snake River. Based on the study conducted by the National Cooperative Soil Survey entitled Soil Survey of Moffat County Area, Colorado, the soils at the proposed drill sites appear to be mainly sandy loam. Based on the published soil map, several soil types occur within the 10 proposed drilling sites (some sites at intersection of soil types and difficult to determine precisely): Hole Soil Map Unit Soil Type 1 178 Simanni - Ruedloff complex 2 200 Tresano sandy loam 3 200 Tresano sandy loam 4 174 Ryark - Maybell complex 5 170 Ryan Park loamy sand 6 162 Rock River sandy loam 7 81 Forelle - Obadia complex 8 173 Ryark - Powderwash complex 9 184 Styers - Pinelli -Taffom complex 10 204 Typic Natrargids