2013-04-18_PERMIT FILE - C2009087A (2)

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RULE 2 - PERMITS rabbitfoot grass, beaked sedge, meadow barley, spikerush, slender wheatgrass, Baltic rush, broadleaf cattail, and redtop. Wetland Delineation The presence of wetlands within the proposed PSCM necessitated on evaluation and delineation of these wetlands and permitting under U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE) jurisdictional wetland requirements. The preliminary riparian and wetland characterization completed in October 2008 supported the detailed wetland delineation field studies completed in August and September 2009, followed by a COE and PSCM site visit on October 27, 2009. The detailed wetland delineation studies followed COE criteria and procedures issued by the COE's Colorado West Regulatory Branch in Grand Junction, Colorado (Mr. Nathan Green Project Manager). The wetland delineation study is included as Exhibit 2.04.10 -E2. The wetland delineation study supports a Pre - Construction Notification (PCN) application submitted to the COE under Nationwide Permit 21 for the PSCM. Special Status Plant Species Inventory Table 23 of the 2008 ESCO Baseline Vegetation Report (Exhibit 2.04.10 -E1, Vegetation Information) presents a list of 25 special status plant species known to occur in Routt County and adjacent counties. Protection for these plants is in the form of designation as Threatened or Endangered under provisions of the Federal Endangered Species Act, or in the form of administrative protection as "sensitive" by either the U.S. Bureau of Land Management or the U.S. Forest Service. Published records of the Colorado Natural Heritage Inventory (CNHI) Database (Colorado State Department of Natural Resources) were used to assess known distributions of the individual species. The vegetation surveys completed during the mid - summer of 2008, did not identify any of the 25 special status species as occurring in the baseline vegetation study area. In addition, a review of the study areas's physiographic conditions indicates it does not contain the habitat that would be conducive to support any of the 25 special status species. However, as many of the special status species bloom earlier in the season and may senesce by middle summer, field surveys to ascertain their presence or absence in the baseline vegetation study area were conducted May and early June 2009. The results of these spring 2009 have been included in the baseline vegetation report contained in Exhibit 2.04.10 -E1. No special species were identified during the spring 2009 surveys. Noxious Weeds Of the plants present on the Routt County Noxious Weed list, two were found in the baseline vegetation study area. • Yellow toadflax /butter and eggs (Linaria vulgaris) — found only in the Sagebrush Grassland Vegetation Type • Houndstongue (Cynoglossum officinale) — found in all areas except the Sagebrush Grassland Reference Area and the Improved Pasture Reference Area. Midterm Review 2.04 -147 Revision 04/2013