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i-iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii Doc Date:12/1112001 Rule 3.04 • S ~e 2.04 INFORMATION ON ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES 2.04.3 Site Description and Land Use Information Detailed descriptions of environmental resources are contained in Section 1.04 and referenced appendices of the original permit application. Broad summaries of those descriptions and studies are provided here for general reference purposes. Copies of the baseline study reports or investigations for vegetation and soils are included as Appendices B and C, respectively, to this document. An edited and updated version of the hydrology discussion from the original permit application is also included as Appendix D to this document. 2.04.3(1) Environmental Resourses Toooeraohv The Hayden Gulch mine is located in the Williams Fork Mountains which serve as a drainage divide between the Yampa and Williams Fork rivers in the mine area. Topography in the immediate mine area is dominated by anortheast-southwest running ridge which joins the Yampa River-Williams Fork divide north of the mine area. Surface elevations at the mine site range from 7300 to 7900 fee[ above MSL. General topography in the area is characterized by flat to rolling ridge top terrain with steep cliffs or escarpments on the southern end of the ridges. Natural slopes in the immediate vicinity of the mine range from 1 (one) to 80 degrees. • Pre-mining slopes within the mine permit area varied from 3:1 to 10:1 with predominantly well drained, northern aspens. (See Exhibit B, PreMining Map, of Exhibits, Volume l.) Ve eta anon Baseline information on the condition of the permit area prior to mining was included in the vegetation studies found in Volume lll, Appendix G, Section 1 of the original permit application. These studies, performed by 3R Corporation and Morrison-Knudsen Company (M-K), included intiormation on plant communities, premining herbaceous biomass, herbaceous cover, woody plan[ density, and utilization of vegetation by grazing animals. No threatened, endangered or rare plant species were identified within the mine permit area. The primary plant communities within the mine permit azea were the sagebrush-serviceberry community-and various other mountain shrub communities. Several aspen groves were also present on north facing slopes. Within the mountain shrub areas which dominate the ridge tops and upper slopes, the primary species present include scrub oak (Quartos gambelii), snowberry (Symphiocarpis spp.) and serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolia). The sagebrush community was interspersed with the mountain shrub type and dominant along lower ridge slopes and the bottom of Hayden Gulch. Dominant species within the sagebrush community include sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) and snowberry. In all plant communities except the scrub oak type, various grass species composed the majority of the herbaceous cover. HABn\PE RM fC \R UL E1~. HG 11/1G/951:J~pm mP51/cmc 1.04-1 Revised - 11/28/95