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Page 3 Federal agency and a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lease was already conducted in 1984 prior to the Recovery Implementation Program for the endangered fishes. The BLM, OSM, and Service should be contacted to discuss the consultation process. In order to protect water quality to a greater extent, the Service recommends that gasoline, oil, and other toxic chemicals be stored in well sealed containers and be placed outside areas adjacent to drainages. Machine and human wash water should not go directly into creeks and should probably be routed through a settling pond or filter of same sort. Coal, topsoil stockpiles, and facilities should also be placed outside of areas adjacent to creeks or drainages to minimize potential for sedimentation and water pollution. The Service agrees that shrub and tree seeds may be contained in the stockpiled topsoil and that they may germinate, once the topsoil is replaced during reclamation. However, germination should be monitored very closely and if the seeds are not recolonizing the reclaimed areas within a couple of years, trees and shrubs should be planted The Service recommends that vegetation native to the area be used for reclamation purposes and that the percentages of previously existing habitats be replaced before reclamation is considered complete. However, the Service recommends that the land in the Conservation Reserve Program be planted with a more diverse mixture of native species, rather than the monotypic grass that occurs there now. We also recommend placement of rock piles, wood piles, snags, and other features during reclamation, which provide denning, nesting, or roosting sites and adds to structural diversity of the site. The permit application mentioned that reptiles and amphibians (herps) would be recorded if observed. The Service did not see any discussion of herps in the survey results under the Wildlife Resources section (Tab 11) and is unsure if there were no herps recorded or if results for herps were accidentally excluded. The only mention of a herp was on page 8 of the Fish and Wildlife Plan (Tab 23) where it was stated that no boreal frogs or suitable habitat for this species was found. The Service is unaware of a species by the common name of boreal frog and no scientific name was given. The boreal toad Bufo bor~as boreas) is a candidate species and occurs in spruce (Picea spp.)-fir (Abies spp.) habitat types generally above 8,000 feet in Colorado. We do not believe the boreal toad occurs in the proposed mining area since spruce-fir habitat does not exist on the site and it does not appear that any ponds exist on the site.