Laserfiche WebLink
s <br /> <br />STATE OF COLORADO <br />DIVISION OF ~~tINERALS AND GEOLOGY <br />Ccp.inmcnl ~,i Ndtu ral Fciourcci <br />I; L iherman 9, P.unm ' l i <br />Phone I;q;i !Shn-}Sh' <br />r ~.~. r,n II ,ir_.;u ua <br />iVlay 19, 1999 <br />D I'JI S IO.V OF <br />IvtINERALS <br />GEOLOGY <br />a'cr.~nAilerl <br />niNING•SSFEiv <br />t`JIL Sl'OIt Patte^ B~II O~n~em <br />Flatiron Companies en~erary <br /> <br />P.O. BOX 229 Crn4 c lV~ihw <br />E.ecunve Dur~ror <br />BOlllde C. CO 80J06 sbi hael B. Lonq <br /> D~vwnn Direc:ar <br />RE: Boure V[inz. Permit C-81-02I <br />TR- 06 Adequacy Letter <br />Dear blr. Pattzn: <br />The DMG has reviewed Flatiron Companies proposal to revise the species <br />diversity standard for the Bourg Mine. DMG agrees that the upper limit of 209c total <br />relative cover for no one species is not reasonable based on the baseline data. The <br />baseline data indicates that big sagebrush contributed X9.2% of the rela[ivz cover in [he <br />sagebrush community. This pattern has continued as demonstrated by the 1997 and ! 998 <br />sampling which shows big sagebrush contributing approximately 509c of the relative <br />cover. <br />Flatiron Companies has also requested to change the forb standard. Baseline cover <br />data for the sagebrush reference area and affected area show 4.890 and 2.0% total forb <br />cover respectively. In terms of relative cover this is 12.690 and x.690. One species in the <br />baseline reference area contributed more than 39e relative cover. iVlonitoring data from <br />thz sagebrush reference in 1997 and 1998 show [hat no forb accounted for more than one <br />percent of [he total cover. Total relative forb cover was only 0.6% in 1997 and 1.99c in <br />1998. Therefore, the DiVIG agrees that a standard of at least 390 relative cover for one <br />forb species is not reasonable. Please describe the justification for the proposed standard <br />of one species with relative frequency greater than 7090 and describe how the grassland <br />and sagebrush reference areas and the affected area baseline data support the proposed <br />frequency standard. <br />Please feel free [o contact me if you have any quzstions regarding this letter. <br />Sincerely, <br />/_ ~• ~ <br />Sandra L. Brown <br />Environmental Protection Specialist <br />