2018-05-31_REVISION - C1980007 (3)

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May 31, 2018 Ginny Brannon, Director Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining, and Safety Via email: drms.temp@state.co.us Re: West Elk Mine PR -15 Dear Ms. Brannon, I am writing to encourage you to deny the West Elk Mine the ability to expand its operations by entering into, and thereby defacing, the Sunset Roadless Area. Furthering the coal industry's incursions into Gunnison County would only exacerbate existing climate issues, and bring long-term impacts to roadless areas and beyond. Gunnison County is already in need of air quality improvement. In an article in the Crested Butte News in November, 2016, David Inouye, a renowned scientist in Gothic, Colorado, reported that Gunnison County gets a "C" rating from the American Lung Association report card. The organization monitored air quality in the county for 17 years. Inouye attributes this unfortunate and unhealthy grade to oil and gas production in the county and elsewhere. Coal production from the West Elk Mine, with its attendant methane venting, is a major contributor to air pollution and climate change as well. There are currently no plans for methane capture, and even with methane capture there would still be the impacts of roads and development on wildlife, streams and aquatic life in the area. It would take many years for the roads to be reclaimed, if ever, even after the short-lived (several years) mine ceased to operate. We should not have to bear these long-term impacts to an area that has been declared "Roadless" thanks to its untrammeled nature. Surely our roadless forests deserve better protection than the incursion of a coal company would bring. As we are becoming increasingly cognizant of the impacts climate change -causing agents are having on our environment, it only makes sense to not exacerbate the problem by creating more opportunities for carbon pollution. Instead, let's focus on renewable energy which will one day soon eliminate any need for coal production. Please don't add to the problems we already face locally, nationally and worldwide. We already need to remediate damages from historic mining, both from coal and heavy metals. Let's leave the Sunset Roadless Area alone, so that it can support the wildlife that inhabit it along with the communities that depend on the ecosystem and recreational services it provides. I hope you will make a wise decision on this issue by denying PR -15.