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hr -~pd y- oil Bob Willits Willits Company, Inc PO Box 825 Cheyenne, WY 82003 July 6, 2004 Dear Mr. Willits, ~~~~~~~~ JUL 0 8 2004 Division of Minerals & Dealopy Thank-you for meeting with us to discuss your plans for the Kattenberg Pit. As we discussed there aze several errors in your Application For A Mined Land Reclamation Permit. Exhibit "C" describe_ s that property to the south of the pazcel as being owned by United States Government. This is an error. The land is actually owned by Paula Sheridan and Elizabeth McIntyre. In addition, the southeast corner of the property is bordered by property owned by the Colorado Division of Wildlife not the United States Government. This oversight caused several more errors. Our four-strand wire fence, which stretches along the approximate south border of the parcel, is not listed in Exhibit "S". Our head gate located at the southwest corner of the property is also excluded. We are not listed as adjoining landowners in Exhibit "O". Nor is the Colorado Division of Wildlife. Consequently we did not receive written notification of the 112 Application. After reading the Application we have the following comments, most of which we already discussed with you. The drainage to the west of County Rd 60 is Fletcher Creek or Willis Creek depending on whom you talk to. It is not the Vail Ditch as identified in Exhibit "S" Sedimentation has been a big problem with this creek. The project to widen CR 60 caused a lot of sediment loadmg in our irrigation ditches and pond. If/when a new entrance to the pit is constructed it should not add to the existing sedimentation problem. The DOW in a May 2001 letter to Bob Kattenberg raised some concerns in regazds to the pit. The DOW acquired adjacent property in 1999 for wildlife habitat. The disappearance of lazge tracts of winter habitat prompted them to act. We also have concerns about impacts the pit could have on winter habitat. While the Fraser River freezes, the springs on the back of our property and Fletcher Creek remain open all winter and are heavily used by lazge animals. Should the pit expose ground water and interrupt flows to the springs or create sedimentation so that Fletcher Creek freezes these winter water holes will disappear. In Exhibit "Q" the applicant proposed the land be reclaimed as rangeland.