2004-11-09_REVISION - M2000016 (4)

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t•10U-08-2004 10.37 ERD RE501JRCE5 303 930 1199 P.02i03 United States Department of the Interior IN REPLY REFER TO: ES/CO: T&E/PMJM/Trap Mail Stop 65412 FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE Ecological Services Colorado Field Office 755 Parfet Street, Suite 361 Lakewood, Colorado 80215 AUG 1 9 2004 Ronald Beane ERO Resources Corporation 1842 Clarkson Street Denver. Colorado 80218 Dear Mr. Beane: ~~ ~(n-lr,rn ~~!~ lip". .f ~:.' r , ,L rn ~,.~, ~, We are respondin to our letter of August 10, 2004, re uesting clearance under the authority conferred to the S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service by the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA), as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et sey.). The Service has reviewed the Preble's meadow lumpin mouse, 2apus hudsonius pre6lei (Preble's), habitat assessment and trap ing survey report for the proposed future aggregate mining activities on the Lafarge Tor~Lupton Properties between Weld County Road 23 to the west, Highway 52 to the north, Weld County Road 6 to the south snd the SoutFt Platte River to the east in Weld County, Colorado. This project, as proposed, may disturb wetlands and other riparian habitats. Based on [he information provided, including the negative trapping results from the five trapping areas located on the South Platte Rrver, Big Dry Creek, and an unnamed irrigation ditch, the Service finds the report acceptable and agrees that a population of Preble's is not likely to be present within the subject azea. Thus, the Service concludes that the proposed project on this site should not have direct adverse affects to Preble's, Since Preble's populations exist downstream from the site, actions on the site that result in significant modifications of Preble's habitat downstream (for example, through alteration of existing flow regimes, or sedimentation) may be subject to provisions of the ESA. Additionally, a Section 404 ppermit may be reqquired by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers under the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C.1344 et seqq.) if the proposed construction may impact jurisdictional wetlands or waters of the U.S. at the subject site. Since 1978, the Service has consistently taken the position in its section 7 consultations that Federal agency actions resulting in extsttng or new water depletions to the Platte River system may affect the endangered whooping crane (Gros americana), endangered interior least tern (Stenra annllanrnt), threatened ptping plover (Charculrius melodus), endangered pallid sturgeon (Scaphirhyynchnr albus), threatened bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephal~s), endangered Esktmo curlew (Numenius Gorealis), threatened western prairie fringed orchid (Plalmuhera praeclara), and designated critical habitat for the whooping crane and piping plover in the central Platte River in Nebraska. In general, depletions include evaporative losses and/or consumptive use less retttm flows. Project elements that could be associated with depletions to the Platte River system include, but arc not limited to, ponds (detention/recreation/irrigation storage), lakes (recreation/irrigation storage/municipal storage/power generation , reservoirs (recreation/irrigation storage/municipal storage/power generation, pipelines, wells, diversion structures, and water treatment facilities.