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<br />Upon examination and study of this report, it will be apparent this proposed operation: <br />1 1. perpetuates a historically significant and azehitecturally distinctive element of the <br />community; <br />' 2. is consistent with the policies and objectives of the Douglas County Master Plan For <br /> Mineral Extraction; <br />' 3. is compatible with surrounding land uses because of its location and methods of <br /> extraction; <br /> 4. minimizes disturbance of the land because the extraction will be limited in acreage at any <br /> one time, reclamation will occur concurrently with mining, and effective sequential use of <br /> the land will be accomplished and the general contours of the land will remain the same; <br /> 5. will have minimum visual impact due to unique topography and liberal buffer azea <br />' allowance; <br /> 6. will not increase traffic congestion; <br />1 <br /> 7. will comply with all necessary state and federal permits; and <br />' 8. will not be a health, safety, or welfaze concern of the present or future inhabitants of <br />Douglas County. <br />(.A.1 History of Rhyolite Quarrying in Douglas County <br />In 1872 Silas Madge, a local rancher, recognized the possibilities of rhyolite as building stone. <br />He opened the first rhyolite quarry in Castle Rock known as the Madge Quarry. The present <br />Ditmars Quarry operated by CMI is on the site of the Madge Quarry, His operation used hand <br />' drills and explosives to loosen the rhyolite and picks and shovels to remove it. In 1873, Madge <br />shipped 600 tons of quamed rhyolite building stone (most of the rhyolite was shipped to <br />Denver). <br />Ir: 1881, a rail spur connecting the railroad to the quarry was installed and the quarry's output <br />increased steadily. Rhyolite building stone was shipped to Cheyenne, Boulder, Colorado <br />' Sigrings, and Pueblo. Also in 1881, the Colorado Stone Company opend the O'Brien Quarry next <br />to the Madge Quarry. <br />' In 1887, J. M. Curry leased both quarries and soon after other quarry operations began. <br />However, in 1893, financial panic hit the nation and building came to a halt. <br />' Business boomed again from 1897 to 1900, but by 1902 the introduction of concrete as a <br />building material and updated construction techniques caused the end of the cut stone industry. <br />' Rhyolite was quarried sporadically during the next several decades. <br />' , 2 <br />I <br />