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<br />BEFORE THE MINED LAND RECLAMATION BOARD <br />STATE OF COLORADO <br />FINDINGS OF FACT. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW. AND ORDER <br />IN THE MATTER OF JIM PALS, THE DOUGLAS MOUNTAIN RANCH SIT, FILE NO. <br />M-97-085, NOTICE OF VIOLATION NO. MV-99-032, CEASE AND DESIST ORDER, AND <br />ASSESSMENT OF CIVIL PENALTIES <br />THIS MATTER having come before the Mined Land Reclamation Board ("the Boazd") on <br />December 15, 1999, for a hearing, C.R.S., the Boazd makes the following Findings of Fact and <br />Conclusions of Law, and enters the following Order: <br />FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW <br />1. Jim Pals ("Pals"), principal of Douglas Mountain Ranch ("DMR"), extracts moss <br />rock from the DMR development site in Clear Creek County, Colorado, Sec. 27, T3S, R74W, 6th <br />P.M. <br />2. The Board conducted a Formal Public Heazing on December I5, 1999, to consider <br />a possible violation of the provisions Sections 34-32.5-101 et sec ., C.R.S. ("Act"), for <br />conducting mining operations without a permit. <br />3. The Division has investigated Pals on two previous occasions for illegal mining in <br />relation to his removal of moss rock. On both occasions the Division determined that the <br />operation was not a mining operation because there had been minimal surface disturbance. <br />4. On September 10, 1998, the Division received a letter from L.F. Brown & <br />Associates, Inc., a consultant for Pals. The letter described Pals' operation as removal of moss <br />rock from a talus slope such that there would be little to no disturbance to the ground surface. <br />5. At the conclusion of both prior investigations, the Division urged Pals to obtain a <br />declazatory order from the Board exempting his activities from reclamation responsibility <br />because the Division's deteanination was not binding. <br />6. In November of 1999, the Division received a complaint from Clear Creek County <br />alleging that Pals was conducting an un-permitted mining operation on the DMR development <br />site. <br />7. As a result of the Clear Creek County complaint, the Division inspected the DMR <br />site on November 8, 1999. The inspection revealed that Pals' operation had expanded beyond <br />mere removal of rock from a talus slope, and had progressed to the point of causing significant <br />ground surface disturbance. <br />