REV99368 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Volume I, Appendix H I ~ ©Rare Earth Science, LLC PO Box 1245 Paonia, Colorado 81428 phone 970/527-8445 dawn®rareearEhsdence. com September 3, 2007 James E. Stover J.E. Stover & Associates, lnc. PO Box 60340 Grand Junction, CO 81506 Re: Threatened & Endangered Species Inventory Renewal of State Permit No. C-1981-047 Blue Ribbon Mine, Delta, Colorado Dear James: • This letter and the attached figures report the results of a threatened and endangered (T&E) species inventory completed by Rare Earth Science, LLC (Rare Earth), for Renewal of Blue Ribbon Mine Permit No. C-1981-047 issued by the Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining, and Safety (DRMS). Blue Ribbon Mine is located in Delta County, Colorado, in the Hubbard Creek drainage of the North Fork of the Gunnison River (North Fork River) watershed (Figure 1). The original permit for Blue Ribbon Mine was issued on December 9, 1982. The status of Blue Ribbon Mine listed by DRMS is "permanent cessation." Renewal of the Blue Ribbon Mine DRMS Permit is a routine renewal; no new areas of surface disturbance and no significant changes to mine activities are proposed. However, a criterion for permit renewal under Rule 2.07.6(2)(n) of the Regulations of the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board for Coal Mining (effective August 30, 1980) requires DRMS to make a finding regarding whether permitted activities will affect the continued existence of federal or state-listed T&E species or result in destruction or adverse modification of their critical habitat. The purpose of this letter is to update the T&E species analysis for the mine to reflect the current T8rE regional lists issued by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the Colorado Division of Wildlife (CDOW). The original T&E inventory work' performed during the first DRMS permit application process only considered impacts to the bald eagle, which the federal government removed from the T&E list on July 9, 2007. The bald eagle is still included in this updated inventory since the federal government is required to continue monitoring its recovery until at least 2012 under the Endangered Species Act. • ' Epsey, Huston and Associates, Denver, Colorado. 1981. Fish and wiltllife analysis for Blue Ribbon Mine permit application (now incorporatetl into the existing permit).