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<br />Inspection Topic Summary <br />NOTE: Y=Inspected N=Not Inspected R=Comments Noted V=Violation Issued NA=Not Applicable <br />N - Air Resource Protection <br />N - Availability of Records <br />N - Backfill & Grading <br />N - Excess Spoil and Dev. Waste <br />N - Explosives <br />N - Fish & Wildlife <br />N - Hydrologic Balance <br />N - Gen. Compliance With Mine Plan <br />N - Other <br />N - Processing Waste <br /> <br />N - Roads <br />N - Reclamation Success <br />R - Revegetation <br />N - Subsidence <br />N - Slides and Other Damage <br />N - Support Facilities On-site <br />N - Signs and Markers <br />N - Support Facilities Not On-site <br />N - Special Categories Of Mining <br />R - Topsoil <br /> <br /> <br />COMMENTS <br /> <br />This was a bond release insepction of the of the Colowyo Mine conducted by Zach Trujillo of Colorado Division <br />of Reclamation, Mining and Safety (DRMS) on July 26, 2017. Colowyo Coal Company L.P. (Colowyo) has <br />requested a total of 182.5 acres located in theSection 16 Pit for a combination of Phase II and Phase III bond <br />release (SL-12).Tony Tennyson representing Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association (Tri-State), <br />Angela Aalbers and Kurtis Blunt representing Colowyo, Phillip Courtney representing Colorado State Land Board <br />(SLB) accompained the inspection as well as Tom Medlin of the Office of Surface Mining (OSM). <br />Representatives of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) were invited but did not attend the inspection. The <br />weather was cloudy with intermittent rain throughout the day and ground conditions were lightly saturated. <br />Temperatures for the day were around seventy degrees fahrenheit. <br />REVEGETATION – Rule 4.15 <br />Vegetative Cover; Timing: <br />Total of 13 reclamation parcels were inspected in the Section 16 Pit for Phase II and Phase III requirements. A <br />total of 182.5 acres was inspected with 47.5 acres being requested for Phase II and 182.5 being requested for Phase <br />III. Vegetation throughout the reclaimed Section 16 parcels was thick, with good, diverse vegetative cover. Rills <br />and gullies were not present. Visually observed species noted in the reclaimed Section 16 parcels included (but <br />not limited to) Kentucky bluegrass, Thickspike wheatgrass, Siberian wheatgrass, Mountain brome, Curly cup <br />gumweed, Great basin wildrye, Russian wildrye, Lupine, and yarrow. Woody stem species are present in the <br />reclaimed parcels as well as in the opened shrub plot. Woody species observed included Sagebrush, Snow berry, <br />Rabbitbrush and Antelope bitterbrush. There was evidence of Elk having bedded down and browsed plants along <br />the Section 16 Pit. <br /> <br />During the inspection, one area of concern was observed by the Division. This area was measured by GPS and was <br />approximately 1.3 acres located in the Reclamation Parcel 16016. This area appeared to be infested primarily with <br />cheatgrass with the initial visual inspection. Cheatgrass is a listed Class C noxious weed. At the request of Zach <br />Trujillo, the Division’s vegetation expert, Janet Binns, reevaluated the 1.3 acres on August 1, 2017. While the area <br />consisted of cheatgrass, intermixed were well established shrubs and other vegetation. According to Janet Binns’ <br />inspection report, “(f)urther evaluation of this affected area finds the Poa (Kentucky bluegrass) has dried up and on <br />first glance may be mistaken for Cheatgrass. Looking under the dried biomass, there are numerous desirable grass <br />species under the dried grass canopy. There are sporadic woody plants, mainly Big sagebrush, in this area. Some <br />of the perennial grass species noted during the walk through of the 1.3 acre area included: Festuca ovina, <br />Thinopyrum intermedium, Elymus lanceolatus, Pascopyrum smithii. Cheatgrass from this affected area does not <br />appear to be invading into neighboring areas. Instead it appeas that Thinopyrum and Elymus species are invading