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JUN-22-2006 THU 1at24 AM FAS N0. P. 02
<br />~~NENt
<br />United States Department of the Interior
<br />F1SH ANb VJII.DLIFE SERVICE
<br />'~qor, , ,e~° Beologcal Services
<br />764 Horiwn Drive, Building B
<br />Grand Junction, Colorado 81506-3946
<br />fN REPLY REFER T0:
<br />ES/CO:OSM
<br />TAILS 65413-2006-I-0041 41~
<br />Tune 16, 2006 ~~°'' ~,~~
<br />Memorandum
<br />To: Natural Resource Specialist, Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and
<br />Enforcement, Denver, Colorado
<br />Fram: Western Colorado Supervisor, fiish and Wildlife Service, Ecological Strviees, Grand
<br />Junction, Colorado /~ ~ ~. /~
<br />Subject: Comments on the BiolloCgic~al~wAssleCssmen! t~f~or McClane Canyon Mine, Permit No. C-
<br />1980-OD4, acrd Munger Canyon Mine, Permit C-8l -020
<br />This is in response [o your letter dated April 7.3, 2006, reinitiating consultation regazding Permit
<br />Renewal Application No. 6 for the McClane Canyon Mine, Permit No. C-1980-004. The
<br />application was submitted to your office by Central Appalachia Mining, LLC. The McClane
<br />Canyon Mine is an underground coal operation approximately 19 miles north of Loma, on
<br />private property and lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management, in Garfield County,
<br />Colorado. The permitted surface disturbance is 9.5 acres. The existing permit will expire July 6,
<br />2006. The neazby Munger Canyon Mine, Permit No. C-81-OZO, is included in the consultation
<br />because this site is to be used as a waste rock disposal area for materials from the McClane
<br />Mine. The permitted surface disturbance for the waste rock disposal site at the Munger Canyon
<br />Mine is 4.9 acres.
<br />The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) provides these comments under the authority of,
<br />and in accordance with, the provisions of section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as
<br />amended {I6 C].S.C. 1531 et seq.), and the Interagency Cooperation Regulations (50 CFR 402).
<br />Your letter includes effects determinations for the bald eagle, Mexican spotted owl, Canada lynx,
<br />Uinta basin hookless cactus, yellow-billed cuckoo, De Beque phacelia, and Parachute
<br />penstemon. In preparing this response, the Service also reviewed the effects analyses and
<br />determinations in the document entitled, `Biological Assessment, DMG Permit Renewals
<br />McClane Canyon and Munger Canyon Mines, Gazfield County, Colorado" (BA), prepared for
<br />J.E. Stover ~ Associates, Inc. by Rare Earth Science, LLC.
<br />Your analysis arrives at "no effect" determinations for the Mexican spotted owl, Canada lynx,
<br />Uinta basin hookless cactus,_De Beque phacelia, and Parachute penstemon. The BA and your
<br />analysis found fhere was no suitable habitat for the Mexican spotted owl or Canada lynx at the
<br />site, While a small stretch of Munger Creek near its East Salt Creek confluence contained
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