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a <br />Environmental Scientists and Engineers, LLC <br />3.1 General Setting <br />The proposed lease area is located approximately 22 miles North of Meeker, Colorado in <br />Moffat County (Figure 1). Nearby Moffat County communities are Axial, Maybell, and <br />Hamilton. <br />The proposed lease area is located on the southern edge of the Yampa River Basin <br />northwest of Danforth Hills. Elevations range from 8,200 feet above mean seal level <br />(amsl) on the southern end of the proposed lease area to 6,700 feet on the north. The area <br />consists of gently sloping interfluvial ridges divided by deeply entrenched gulches and <br />drainage valleys. Major drainages include Jubb Creek, various forks of the Collom Gulch <br />and Little Collum Gulch, and Straight Gulch. All drainages flow northeasterly to Stinking <br />Creek and the Yampa River. The drainages cross upper Cretaceous sandstones, shales, <br />and coal beds of the Williams Fork Formation, the Lance Formation, and the Mancos <br />Shale. The ridge surfaces are characterized by shallow tan to gray -brown silts or silty <br />loams locally paved with sandstone slabs and angular gravels. Large bedrock outcrops <br />also occur in some locations. Valley bottoms are generally narrow with very steep canyon <br />walls. Ridgetops are wide and gently sloping. <br />The climate is semi -arid shrub steppe (shrub steppe) with a mean annual precipitation of <br />approximately 14 -16 inches per year. The growing season is approximately 90 days. <br />Prevailing winds are westerly. Vegetation includes big sagebrush scrub and sagebrush <br />meadows with thickets of scrub oak and serviceberry or mountain mahogany. Vegetation <br />cover ranges between 35 and 75 percent. A few aspen groves grow at the higher <br />elevations and scattered juniper trees occur in the northern part of the proposed lease <br />area. Wetlands occur along the fringes of both Wilson and Jubb creeks and their <br />tributaries. <br />Private and federal landownership is shown on Figure 3 and coal ownership is shown on <br />Figure 4. Land use includes livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. Nearly all of the <br />proposed coal lease area is grazed by sheep and cattle. Stock ponds and windmills are <br />scattered throughout the area. Deer, elk, and antelope wildlife habitat encompass the <br />area. Mountain lion and bear are known to occur. The Greater sage -grouse and <br />Columbian sharp - tailed grouse habitats are present. <br />3.2 Climate and Air Quality Resources <br />3.2.1 Climate <br />The closest active reporting weather stations to the proposed lease area are at Craig, <br />Colorado, which is about 28 miles northeast, and at Meeker, Colorado, which is about 20 <br />miles to the south. Information from both locations are presented herein to provide the <br />best data as related to the lease area and to indicate the variability in climatological <br />characteristics that may be expected within short distances. Also, climatological data <br />collected at the ColoWyo mine site is presented. <br />P PROJE(TS'Coloeyo(.1 88 CA final HI.NI -. -EA Colton! 1)N 06. d <br />15 <br />