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Description of Permit Area <br />The site is located three miles northwest of the town of Nucla, in western Montrose County, <br />Colorado, this agricultural area has hosted a number of commercial coal mining operations that <br />date back to 1958. Four pre- mining land use categories occur within the proposed New Horizon <br />North Mine Permit area. Grazingland and Pastureland are the two primary land uses which <br />account for 50.8% and 42.9 %, respectively. The remaining two land uses are Residential (5.8 %) <br />and Developed Water Resource (.5 %). <br />The mine area lies within the southeastern section of the Colorado Plateau Physiographic <br />Province and within the San Juan River Coal Basin. The region is characterized by broad, fairly <br />smooth - surfaced sandstone plateaus and mesas, with gently dipping slopes dissected by deep <br />canyons. Topographic features on the permit include gentle southwest facing slopes, low rolling <br />hills, old spoil piles, regraded mined areas cut by open pits, and shallow drains (ephemeral), <br />which feed Tuttle Draw (intermittent). <br />Surface elevations at the proposed mine range from a high of 5,790 feet (MSL) in the northeast <br />corner of the permit, to a low of slightly less than 5,540 feet (MSL) at the southernmost part <br />where the permit area (equipment corridor) crosses Tuttle Draw. Total topographic relief for the <br />permit area is 250 feet. The elevation on the San Miguel River where Tuttle Draw joins it is <br />about 5,240 feet. <br />The permit area of the New Horizon Mine is divided north -south by the 2nd Park Lateral of the <br />Colorado Cooperative Company Ditch, which runs east -west across the natural drainage divide <br />in the central portion of the permit area. Within the permit area, there are three unnamed <br />perennial draws (referred to by Western Fuels- Colorado as Glasier, Meehan, and Nygren Draws) <br />with Glasier and Meehan Draws to the north, and Nygren Draw to the south. Meehan and <br />Glasier Draws flow to the west and then north via an unnamed draw to Coal Creek Canyon. <br />Nygren Draw drains southward to Tuttle Draw. Coal Creek Canyon and Tuttle Draw, both <br />perennial, flow west and south into the San Miguel River, which then flows north- northwest to <br />the Dolores River and ultimately the Colorado River. The permit area is roughly 4.5 miles <br />upstream of the San Miguel River via Coal Creek Canyon, and 2 miles upstream of the San <br />Miguel River on Tuttle Draw. <br />The regional climate of the New Horizon North Mine area is typical of intermountain regions. It <br />is characterized by hot summers, cold winters, low precipitation, and relatively short growing <br />seasons. The mine receives approximately 12 inches of precipitation in an average year. The <br />majority of the precipitation falls between May and October. The average annual temperature is <br />53.4° F. The prevailing wind direction is ESE at 7.8 mph. <br />There are four main soil types in the New Horizon North permit area: Aquolls, 0 -3% slopes, <br />Pinyon - Progresso loams, 3 -12% slopes, Pinyon -Ustic Torriorthents Complex, 5 -30% slopes and <br />Rock Outcrop - Orthents Complex, 40 -90% slopes. <br />The natural vegetation in the Nucla area is pinyon juniper woodland and Great Basin sagebrush. <br />Over 100 years of intensive agriculture in the area has resulted in only scattered remnants of the <br />native vegetation types. Prior to agricultural conversion, sagebrush shrublands occupied the <br />41'.Ja <br />