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Apr 1716 12:01 p <br />When a farmer agrees to lease his place so that the energy so greatly needed is <br />acquired, he has no idea at that time he may die before he ever gets his property back <br />nor does he have any knowledge that it may exceed that ten years that he is told is the <br />bond release from day one. Ten years has passed, twenty years has passed, it's time <br />to move forward and allow these farmers to have their properties back and be farmers <br />again without a ten year haul road standing in their way. This is not vacant ground, this <br />is not BLM, this is not out in the middle of no where that if a road was to remain it would <br />not be of any significant value at all. These very small haul roads are in the middle of <br />cropland, are in the middle of pasturelands, and in the middle of keeping a farmer from <br />enjoying his farm ever again. This is a very small acreage that means nothing to <br />anyone else in the entire state except the farmer that had the road in his field at one <br />time. The road is very nicely reclaimed and now returns to what needs to be a <br />contiguous farming operation without another adverse burden and a possible ten year <br />period. <br />P.5 <br />In summary, there is one other detail. The State cannot enter into a lease agreement <br />with the landowner, that is the responsibility of the operator. But, the leases are all part <br />of the application for a permit to mine coal and of public record. They are part of the <br />"right of entry" as well as the reclamation plan, the permit revisions; the bond <br />performance, and any technical revisions. Per those rules, no major changes can be <br />made to a landowners" property without the consent of the landowner. There is no <br />landowner that gave consent to have his property tied up and controlled by the operator <br />or the state for 34 years plus. There is no lease agreement that covers that. Keeping a <br />landowners property under the control of the operator as well as the State for an <br />additional ten years is no where to be found in these agreements. It is also a violation of <br />all the rules and regulations for returning the properties in a timely and contemperous <br />manner, to full production to as good as or better uses than prior to mining which is the <br />States guarnatee that will be done in the oversight position of the state to make sure the <br />operator does his job and the OSM position to make sure the State does its job. We <br />have a very good STATE relationship and operator/landowner relationship, Both are <br />working independantly and together with all landowners to stay within the rules and <br />regulations to accomplish the goals set forth but the landowners are tired of year after <br />year of not having their farms back and being able to be a real farmer. All the time <br />frames have been stretched to the limits and then extended over and over again. The <br />"intent" and purposes to protect the landowner in these endeavors have been initially <br />violated with the very rules that were designed in 1977 to protect the landowner has <br />adversely effected each and every landowner by the violation of "a timely manner", <br />"contemporously", "consent of landowner", and working hand in hand to make sure their <br />farms were returned better. One rule is not more important than another rule or law, all <br />have equal value. To make one rule effective, must take in consideration all the other <br />rules and put just as much emphasis on each and every rule. Historically implied rules <br />that have NEVER been used regarding farms being mined because there NEVER has <br />been farms mined before must have some adjustment to balance the rules and laws and <br />make them all equal. Historical or implied rules cannot be used for something that has <br />never been done in the history of colorado which is the mining of small productive farms. <br />There are no similarities between mining farm ground that is used for livelihoods and <br />mining vacant lands, dry lands, BLM, or Federal lands. These are productive farms that <br />need to be returned in a WHOLE state to productive farms.That is where the word <br />"BALANCE" is used in so many of the rules and regualtions as well as title 33_ There <br />must be a balance in order to make these rules complete and this balance must be <br />4 <br />