2017-12-21_PERMIT FILE - M2017049 (105)

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Mullilzen Weiner Berg & Jolivet P.C. Ms. Amy Eschberger December 19, 2017 Page 2 § 34-32.5-103(1.5). Some of our reasons for opposing the Second Application are set forth below. Destruction of the Unique Environment The area on which the mining is proposed is very special land which deserves to be preserved and not mined, as an exception to our normal state priorities. The proposed site is a part of the Aiken Canyon Potential Conservation Area and was identified by the Colorado Natural Heritage Program in 2001 as a B2 site —very high significance. A part of that area is the Aiken Canyon preserve property, which is already being preserved by The Nature Conservancy. Aiken Canyon is a very unique property and is immediately adjacent to the land proposed to be mined. Aiken Canyon is very special due to its unique plants and abundant wildlife. It is my recollection that Buck Ingersoll, prior to his death, and his wife, Barbara Ingersoll, who lives on the Ingersoll Ranch, devoted time and significant resources to preserve Aiken Canyon, and previously assisted in a successful effort to prevent expansion of the near-by Menzer Quarry to prevent further destruction of this unique and special environment. Mr. Ingersoll's estate plan, which is embodied in the Trust, provides for expansion and further preservation of the Aiken Canyon environment. Mr. Ingersoll's Trust provides for distribution of all but 40 acres of the Ingersoll Ranch to be divided between The Nature Conservancy, to add ground to the area already preserved and protected as Aiken Canyon, and the other half to be distributed to the El Pomar Foundation, which will also preserve the land. You currently have letters of objection from The Nature Conservancy to the First Application. We are authorized to indicate that the El Pomar Foundation also opposes the Second Application. I am not a biologist, but note for you the expertise of The Nature Conservancy and past study and work done by the late Professor Bidelman at Colorado College. The State of Colorado, through its Natural Heritage Program, has identified this exact area as having "very high significance" because of its important plant and wildlife communities. It is also part of a unique and small area of Colorado where the Peaks to Plains ecosystems come together and overlap. Per The Nature Conservancy, this area "merits the highest standards of inventory and protection." This area is a very unique and irreplaceable environment which, in and of itself, deserves to be preserved as a natural resource of the State with greater priority than harvesting a granite deposit. El Paso County has formally recognized that fact in the Southwestern/Highway 115 Comprehensive Plan it adopted years ago which states: "The specific area of Aiken's Canyon is identified as a unique and significant biological resource of State-wide significance that should continue to be preserved. Preservation is not compatible with most public access, and