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:: <br /> <br />• I~~ I~II~II~III~I I~I <br />DENVER OFFICE <br />PUBLIC FILE COPY <br />FILE: Nt-9~-os9 <br />SITE: ~h•~e6ra~el ~,t <br /> <br />Received <br />FEB ~ °'~ ~i?~3 <br />RECEIVED <br />Suzie Campbell Bell <br />P . O . Box 312 Division of Minerals & Ge010yy <br />Cortez, Colorado 81321 <br />Dear Ms. Bell: <br />c~ d ~ c r~' <br />2000 <br />CO-038 <br />In answer to ;your letter of January 26, 1998 we will respond to <br />each numbered question you posed. <br />1. There were three mineral exploration test pits dug by Mr. <br />Stone under the oversite of a BLM archaeologist within the boundary <br />of site SMT2020 and one at the edge of site. <br />2. No new roads were "cut" nor "blade dropped", random or <br />otherwise, on the subject parcel. At the proposed Stone Pit site, <br />a backhoe was used to access the area overland, dig the test pits, <br />and backfill each disturbed site. The bucket side of the backhoe <br />was used to push the excavated material back into the holes. At <br />each test pit site the backhoe would have had to turn around, <br />making some marks in the soil and disturbing the sagebrush at each <br />site. It is apparent that sagebrush was crushed and disturbed to <br />some extent both along old existing trails and overland where the <br />backhoe driven to access the test pit sites. No blading occurred <br />as part of this operation. There has been no blading apart from <br />the existing roads in the area for several years. The test pit <br />sites were random in layout and some test pits were more completely <br />filled and smoothed than others, but none were left open. <br />3. Your estimate of depth and length of each test pit agrees with <br />our observations. Digging a hole of this sort with a backhoe <br />generally makes a trench deeper at one end than the other. While <br />the hole is being dug, the operator typically places the excavated <br />material in a pile to one side of the trench. <br />4. No "Notice Of Intent" was filed with BLM, nor is a federal <br />Notice of Intent required for this action. However, Mr. Stone did <br />file a Land Use Permit application with our office on April 25, <br />1997. After consultation with our legal counsel (Solicitors), we <br />notified Mr. Stone that no federal permit was required for this <br />particular action. General notification is required however and <br />BLM took Mr. Stone's application as that notification. As you <br />know, there was a BLM archeologist present during excavation and <br />directing the location of the test pits in the vicinity of site <br />SMT2020. <br />