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.::`:~. <br />Page 2 <br />5) The Service has provided the Paonia Ranger District with <br />species list for a proposal by Mountain Coal Company. <br />Based on the above, we believe the request for formal consultation is <br />premature. We believe the following issues should be resolved prior to <br />initiating formal consultation under Section 7 of the Endangered Species <br />Act. <br />1) What is the relationship of the current proposal to Mountain <br />Coal Company's ongoing activities? Is the water use analysts <br />currently being investigated by the Colorado Division of <br />Minerals and Geology (at the request of this office) related to <br />the current proposal? <br />2) It has been concluded that previous mining operations by <br />Mountain Coal Company do result in a depletion of water from <br />the upper Colorado River basin; hence, the formal consultation <br />completed in 1985. Consequently, we believe any expansion of <br />operations will also likely result in a depletion. A depletion <br />analysis should occur to quantify this amount. <br />3) We have been coordinating with four agencies regarding ongoing <br />and proposed coal mining activities by Mountain Coal Company: <br />the Forest Service (Paonia Ranger District), the Office of <br />Surface Mining, the Bureau of Land Management, and the Colorado <br />Division of Minerals and Geology. The Interagency Cooperation <br />regulations for compliance with Section 7 of the Endangered <br />Species Act suggest (50 CFR 402.07) that when more than one <br />Federal agency has oversight for a particular activity, one of <br />the Federal agencies should be designated as the lead to <br />satisfy the consultation responsibilities. The consultation <br />process will be more efficient if this procedure is followed <br />for this action. <br />The Fish and Wildlife Service suggests that informal consultation continue <br />with this office to determine whether the above issues have been adequately <br />addressed, and whether it is appropriate for formal consultation to be <br />initiated. Please contact me or Terry Ireland if any clartficatlon is <br />needed. / _ <br />cc: OSM, Denver (Attn: Chief of Tec~Sical Services) J <br />FS, Paonia Ranger District (Attn: Andrea Wang) <br />Colorado Division of Minerals and Geology (Attn: Christine Johnston) <br />lLeaehmen:eteosl.em:070795 <br />