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John R. Resse, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers August 12, 1993 Page 3 P. comprehensive community-r:ide discussion on the issues should take place in Telluride. A reclamation bond and a reclamation plan should be required, follooring a thorough, expert study of the situation, defining potential costs. Ode need to delineate responsibility and accountability for the problem, including more clarity in permitting, identification of lead agencies orhere applicable, and a possible update of the original State N,ined Land Reclamation Board permit. We believe any permit is premature pending resolution of the Forest Service trespass dispute and possible permit authority exercised by the Forest Service on land that belongs to the public. 4?e need to determine caho is responsible for enfcrcing nermit~ing provisions. A streamlining of this process, too, c•:ould be adc-antaeeous to all involved. And perhaps most importantly, ore hope that alternative sites caill be explored, preferably the dry-land options. San Miguel County staff recently advised the County Commission that an expansion of the gravel opera=ion renders it subject to County review under Special Use Permit Provisions and the c•retlands regulations. It is possible that such review would show that th= current site is no longer economicaliv feasible cr desirable. Information from all applicable agencies should be made public. h1e have bean frustrated that a copy of the original trLP3 (nor the Division of ?:inerals and Geology ) permit has not been made available. to the public. We suspect this permit, cahich requires the use of riparian land for grazing as remediation, to be deficient and out-of-date, warranting another look in light of the current situation. the Forest Service process for dealing with the trespass issue has not been a public process to date. There have been reports of a potential land trade, which could greatly affect the Forest Service rcle as a lead agency/enforcer. 41e feel that San Miguel County needs time to develop policy and authority in this matter that the_: have not preciously had or exercised for various reasons. Above a11, theca appears to be no lead agency or coherent strategy for managing either a reclamation program or choosing future sites and permitting plans for Telluride Gravel. The public is at the initial stages of involvement. 4lhile your application specified a 30-day comment period, cre have effectively had about t4ro weeks. Many local individuals are concerned about the environmental impacts to the river including orator quality, riparian 4rildlife habitat and degradation of the South Fork and mainstream. 41ith so may unansorered questions and a dearth of available information we feel woefully uninformed. An Environmental Impact Statement is definitely in order so that a more informed public can consider this application; so that community-wide dialogue can be held resolving differences so that both the environment and appropriate development of the region can