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• <br />• <br />E <br />May 27, 1998 <br />Matthew S. Hayes <br />Hayes Environmental Services, Inc. <br />300 Lafayette St. <br />Denver, CO 80218 <br />Mr. Bill Clark <br />Colorado Division of Wildlife <br />711 Independent Ave. <br />Grand Junction, CO 81505 <br />RE: Woody Plant Density Success Standards, North Thompson Creek Mine (C- 81-025) <br />Permit Renewal 03. <br />Dear Mr. Clark: <br />I wrote to you in the latter part of last year regarding changing the woody stem <br />density standard for a coal mine, Coal Ridge No. 1 Mme, which is just west of Glenwood <br />Springs. Thanks for your response received in January. I write again regarding the same <br />topic for a different mine. The North Thompson Creek mine and loadout areas are located <br />near Carbondale (mine site is in Sections 34 and 35 of T 8 S, R 89 W, 6'b P.M. in Pitkin <br />county, the remains of the loadout area are nearby but closer to Carbondale). Woody <br />stem density standards presently apply to five communities which were originally identified <br />as follows (amount of disturbed acreage is also listed): <br />NATURAL COMMUNITIES <br />Riparian Woodland <br />Mountain Shrubland Dry Phase <br />Mountain Shrubland Moist Phase <br />Pinyon -Juniper Woodland <br />Rubber Rabbitbrush Shrubland <br />LOCATION ACREAGE <br />No. 1 Mine Portal 0.6 <br />No. 1 and No. 3 Mme Sites 41.7 <br />No. I Mine New Fan Site 1.3 <br />Mine Loadout >0.4 <br />Mine Loadout >0.1 <br />The Mountain Shrubland Dry Phase community, which comprises most of the <br />disturbed area, is a community dominated by Gambel oak, serviceberry, and snowberry. <br />The Riparian and Mountain Shrubland Moist Phase communities, which do not have any <br />standards applied directly to them, have been lumped together with the Dry Phase <br />community where the determination of success is concerned. Thus, the first three <br />communities have a joint 1500 stem per acre standard. The Pinyon -Juniper community <br />presently has a 1000 sterntacre standard, while the Rubber Rabbitbrush community has a <br />2000 stem per acre standard. As with the Coal Ridge No. 1 Mme, we are requesting that <br />the woody stem density standards be eliminated. The reasons for this request are the same <br />as for Coal Ridge. The land owner is not interested in woody stems being present on the <br />reclaimed areas. Furthermore, a pocket of sbrubless land in a tree dominated landscape <br />9/98 <br />4-65i i i 1�N -03 <br />