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PtMfNT OF ty a~ sm United States Department of the interior 9 ~ O ' ' OFFICE OF SURFACE MNI~'G _ Reclammion and Enforcement ~4ACN 11 ~a'~ P.o. E3os x6657 Denver, Colando 50201-6667 IN REPLY 0.EFER TO: September 20, 2006 CO-0015 RECEIVED Ecological Services $EP ~ 1 NO6 Mr. AI Pfister -Assistant Field Supervisor U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Westem Colorado Office Division of Reclamation. 764 Horizon Dtive, Building B Mining and Safety , Grand Junction, Colorado 31506-3946 RE: Formal section 7 Consultation, Snowcap Coal Company, "Roadside North and South Portals" mine, Permit C-81-041 -Post Mining Land Use Change, Permit Revision PR-03 Dear Mr. Pfister: The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) Western Region has been requested by the Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety to initiate section 7 consultation for the above subject. The Roadside North and South Portals (formerly known as the Roadside and Cameo Mines) underground coal mine is located in Mesa County, Colorado, approximately three (3) miles northeast of the town of Palisade, Colorado, adjacent to the Colorado River, at the Cameo exit of Interstate I-70 in DeBeque Canyon. The mines operated intermittently from 1974 until December 1999 when they went into permanent cessation. Extensive reclamation activities have been carried out since the mines went into permanent cessation. At the North Portal area, the portals have been backfilled and sealed, the facilities demolished, and backfilling and grading completed. One of the two coal waste disposal areas in Coal Canyon has been fully reclaimed and the other is nearly fully reclaimed. At the South Portal area, the portal has been sealed, the coal processing plant and associated facilities demolished and removed and the refuse disposal area nearly reclaimed. Only the office, warehouse and cafeteria training building remain. The train loadout facility used by both the North and South Portals is currently in temporary cessation, with the possibility that the permittee may re-activate it for rail shipments of materials in the future. The Roadside North and Sotith Portals mine are located within the Bookcliff coal field, which is an outcropping of the Mesa Verde Group and are within the alluvial valley of the Colorado River. The Colorado River, Flowing southwesterly, bisects the permit area with the North Portal area located to the west and north, and the South Portal area [o the east and south. Numerous ephemeral streams in narrow, steep-walled canyons drain the permit area. Jerry Creek and Coal Creek flow easterly to the Colorado River while Rapid Creek flows north and westerly. ~"A~CE F'RIDE~ ~ t N~M E R ~ CA-~,