1987-12-01_PERMIT FILE - C1981017 (224)

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1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Purpose This report presents the results of veoetatien studies conducted during 1979 and 1980 by Western Resource Development Corporation (WRD) for Mid- Continent Resources, Inc. The vegetation studies were part of a comprehensive program intended to bring the existing Coal Basin Mines into compliance with regulations of the Office of Surface Mining (OSM) and the Colorado Division of Mined Land Reclamation (MLR) . The Coal Basin vegetation studies were conducted in two phases, as agreed upon during a joint meeting between O&M, MLR, and WRD on 28 September 1979. The first phase, conducted during the 1979 growing season, included (a) describing vegetation community types, (b) compiling a plant species list , (c) preparing a detailed vegetation map, and (d) establishing and obtaining cover data for representative reference areas for each major community type already or potentially affected by the mining operation. The report on the 1979 phase was submitted to Mid-Continent in January 1980. The second phase of the Coal Basin vegetation studies, conducted during the 1980 growing season, included (a) surveying the study area for species not encountered in 1979, (b) obtaining production data for reference areas, and (c) sampling affected areas for cover, shrub height , shrub density, tree height, tree diameter, tree density, and production. 1.2 Location and Topography The study area is located about 5 km west of Redstone, Coloraeo, within the White River National Forest . The area is dominated visually by Hunstman Ridge, a north-south trending escarpment generally above tree limit . The highest point along the ridge in the vicinity of the Coal Basin Mines is Huntsman Mountain (11,780 ft . ) . Figure 1 shows a oortion of Huntsman Ridge on the site. The steep east slope of the ridge is drained by a number of mountain streams, such as Bear Creek, Dutch Creek , and Porcupine Creek, as well as the main drainage, Coal Creek. These streams are marked by waterfalls ano deeoly entrenched valleys in many stretches, due to their steep gradients and the rapid erodibility of the seoimenTary substrate. Coal Creek is itself tributary to the Crystal River at Redstone. The study area lies within both Pitkin County and Gunnison County. All existina or planned affected areas are within Pitkin County, however . The boundary between the two counties throucn the study area essentially is the crest of Huntsman Ridge.