2012-01-06_PERMIT FILE - C1982057A (2)

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Section 11.2 Seneca II-W South Extension 1997 Wildlife Baseline Study • Introduction Seneca Coal Company ISCCI operates the Seneca II-W surface coal mine, located approximately seven miles south of Hayden, in Routt County, Colorado. The current permit area occupies approximately 3.8 square miles. The initial wildlife baseline study for the Seneca II-W Mine was conducted in 1974. It was quite comprehensive, covering vertebrate and invertbrate fauna. Additional baseline work; concentrating on big game, sharp-tailed grouse, and raptors, was conducted in 1979 and 1982. The results of these early surveys are presented in lab 11, Section 11.1 of the Seneca 11-W Mine Permit Application. In 1997, SCC contracted Powder River Eagle Studies Inc. IPRESI to conduct a supplemental wildlife baseline study on a proposed south extension identified as the Seneca II-W South Extension. Prior to initiating fieldwork, PRES contacted local and regional Colorado Division of Wildlife ICDOWI personnel to develop a scope of work for the supplemental wildlife baseline study. It was agreed that the study should include information on habitat types, potential species occurrence, winter big game distribution and numbers, nesting raptors, and threatened and endangered species. The extension area and its associated habitats are described below. Survey methods and . results are presented by animal group. All locations given are in Township 5 North, Range BB West, 6'" Principal Meridian. Study Area The proposed extension area is adjacent to the south boundary of the 1980 Seneca II-W Mine Permit Area. It is in the Williams Fork Mountains, just north of the divide between the Yampa River to the north and the Williams Fork River to the south. The Williams Fork Mountains support primarily mountain shrubland and aspen /Popu/us iremu/oides/ forest, with coniferous forest being relatively limited even at the highest elevations. Elevation of the extension area ranges from 7,200 to over 8,300 feet above mean sea level (AMSL1. Topography of the area is sloping to steeply sloping. A high ridge dominates the east side of the area. From that ridge, the land slopes west and south down to Hubberson Gulch and associated ephemeral tributary drainages. East of the ridge, the terrain falls away very steeply into tributary draws of Sage Creek. Both Hubberson Gulch and Sage Creek are within the Yampa River drainage basin. The wildlife study area, as shown on Exhibit 11-3 included approximately 1,400 acres in Sections 26, 27, 34, and 35. Surveys for big game and raptor nests included additional perimeters as described below. r1 L I 33 Revised 9198 . ..a y ~ . .f~: '... __ c . ,. ~:r.-z_.. .- .. .. ss~oiP i!"..aa.aea*~7i ylin i#' w^+;.._.- uc'.'''~..-,:.'~s'~ae.~ = r.L .;.:..,A :v:i SB~Bi~L