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USDA <br /> regulations and is asserting their rights under the General Mining Law to explore for <br /> locatable minerals. <br /> The Forest Service (FS) is required by regulation to respond to an MPO to conduct <br /> operations pursuant to the Mining Law of 1872, as amended. Under 36 CFR 228.5, the FS <br /> must determine whether to approve the MPO as proposed, or to require changes or <br /> additions deemed necessary to meet the requirements of the regulations for environmental <br /> protection set forth in 36 CFR 228.8. The FS conducts a thorough review of the <br /> environmental effects and determines if any changes or design criteria are needed to minimize <br /> resource impacts. Approval of a MPO is not a discretionary action for the FS, and the FS has <br /> authority over the surface resources only. Subsurface mineral resources are under the authority of <br /> the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). <br /> DECISION <br /> After a review of the project record, I have decided to authorize Jacob Ulrich and Brent Rovedo <br /> a Plan of Operations to conduct mining operations for amazonite, smoky quartz, and other <br /> pegmatite minerals on the Barbara Lee and Dad's unpatented mining claims in the Crystal Creek <br /> Mining Area in Park County, Colorado. It is my decision to approve the Ulrich - Rovedo MPO <br /> for exploration and mining activities as described above pending (1) the operator incorporates <br /> the design features into the final MPO, and (2) the operator posts an appropriate reclamation <br /> bond as approved by the FS. Operations approved by this decision will be in compliance with <br /> the rules and regulations for operations on NFS lands (36 CFR 228, Subpart A). All operations <br /> will be conducted in accordance with the design features to minimize and/or eliminate <br /> environmental impacts on NFS surface resources (36 CFR 228.8). Approval of this MPO is <br /> consistent with 36 CFR 228.5. Activities are authorized for up to five years from the date of <br /> signature on the MPO. <br /> This action is categorically excluded from documentation in an environmental impact statement <br /> (EIS) or an environmental assessment (EA). The applicable category of actions is identified in <br /> agency procedures as 36 CFR 220.6(e)(3): "Approval, modification, or continuation of minor <br /> special uses of NFS lands that require less than five contiguous acres of land." <br /> This category of action(s) is applicable because there are no cause-effect relationships <br /> between the proposed action and the potential effect on resource conditions that could lead <br /> to effects on any extraordinary circumstance that would warrant analysis beyond a <br /> categorical exclusion (36 CFR 220.6(b)) (FSH 1909.15, Sec. 31.2). I have considered the <br /> resource conditions listed in the Forest Service NEPA regulations at 36 CFR 220.6(b) as <br /> outlined below. <br /> I find that there are no extraordinary circumstances that would warrant further analysis and <br /> documentation in an EA or EIS. I took into account resource conditions identified in agency <br /> procedures that should be considered in determining whether extraordinary circumstances might <br /> exist: <br /> a. Federally listed threatened or endangered species or designated critical habitat, <br /> species proposed for Federal listing or proposed critical habitat, or Forest Service <br /> —Decision Memo— <br /> Page 2 of 9 <br />