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Vegetation <br />Three major vegetation types surround the reclaimed mining area - a sparsely populated <br />sandstone outcrop ledge, a gently undulating sand bench, and a strip of pinyon juniper <br />woodland (See Photo B1 and B2 below). <br />Species found on the sandstone face above the surface facilities and portal include pinyon <br />pine, Colorado juniper, sand dropseed and western wheatgrass. Vegetative cover <br />averages less than 5 %. Vegetation occurs largely in gaps and cracks between boulders, <br />as there is no appreciable topsoil. <br />Soils on the bench below the surface facilities, where waste rock will be dumped, are <br />sandy. Vegetative cover in this area averages 14% and is predominantly a grass - cactus <br />association. Species include prickly pear, barrel cactus, sand dropseed, blue gramma, <br />western wheatgrass, Indian ricegrass, Mormon tea, scarlet globemallow, and rattlesnake <br />weed. <br />Along the south edge of the sandy bench lies a small area of pinon-juniper woodland. <br />Soil composition associated with this vegetative area can be described as a sandy to a <br />sandy loam soil. Vegetative cover for this association averages 10% with the height of <br />the dominant species ranging from 10 to 18 feet. <br />None of these species is currently listed on the BLM Colorado Sensitive Species List <br />found at www.blm.gov /co /st /en/BLM Programs/botany /Sensitive Species List .html. <br />For a map of how the vegetation relates to the topography and soil types see Exhibit T - <br />EPP, Figure T3. <br />The main surface disturbance will be located in Rock outcrop (Soil map unit 87) and in <br />Rock outcrop - Orthents complex (Soil map unit 88). The ecological site associated with <br />these soil types is Pinon- Juniper and Douglas fir, i although Douglas fir sites <br />corresponding to these soil types occur at much higher elevations and are thus not <br />applicable to this site. Ecological site descriptions are not yet available in Colorado; <br />however, a Rangeland Site Description associated with Pinon- Juniper sites has been <br />provided by the Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and <br />is included in this exhibit. Rangeland Site Descriptions discuss coverage percentages for <br />each species including the relationship of current vegetation to soil types associated with <br />Pinon- Juniper sites. <br />William S. Hawn, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Soil Survey of San Miguel Area, Colorado: <br />Parts of Dolores, Montrose, and San Miguel County:. 2001, p. 241 and 242. <br />B -18 <br />