GENERAL50821

• Permit No: C1980007
• IBM Index Class Name: General Documents
• Doc Date: 3/19/2007
• Doc Name: Draft EIS Deer Creek Shaft/E-Seam MDWs
• From: Forest Service
• To: DRMS
• Permit Index Doc Type: General Correspondence
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

of and Need for Action
Roads associated with accessing methane
drainage wells may be constructed or
reconstructed in the West Elk IRA under two of
the exceptions stated in the Roadless Area
Conservation Rule of 2001 (RACR), those
being:
Exception No. 1 -protection of public
health and safety in the cases of
imminent threat that without intervention
would cause loss of life or property, and
Exception No. 7 -roads are needed for
the continuation, extension, renewal of a
mineral lease on lands that were under
lease as of 1/12/2001.
Additional details regarding the use of these
exceptions are given in Chapter 2.
In compliance with the RACR, conditions
attached to the Forest Service concurrence to
the state permitting action would be consistent
with provisions at 36 CFR 294.12 (b) (7) which
requires road construction and reconstruction
on mineral leases to "be conducted in a manner
that minimizes effects on surface resources,
prevents unnecessary or unreasonable surface
disturbance, and complies with all applicable
lease requirements, land and resource
management plan direction, regulations, and
laws." Also consistent with that provision of
RACR, the Forest Service will require the
operator to decommission all roads by
obliteration when no longer needed for the
purposes of the leases. Roads proposed in the
IRA would be for project and administrative
use only, and would not be available for public
use.
Authorizing Actions
resources..." Further, the Federa] Land Policy
and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA) states
that public lands are to be managed in a manner
that recognizes the Nation's need for domestic
sources of minerals. Under regulations of the
Mining and Mineral Policy Act of 1970 and the
Federal Land Policy Management Act of 1976,
the responsible federal agencies must ensure
the following:
• Adverse environmental impacts on public
land surface resources are minimized to
the extent practical;
• Measures must be included to provide for
reclamation, where practicable; and,
• The proposed operation will comply with
other federal and state laws and
regulations.
Forest Service Manual
The Forest Service administers its mineral
program to (Forest Service Manual 2800 ZERO
Code - WO Amendment 2800-91-1 Page 3):
• Encourage and facilitate the orderly
exploration, development, and production
of mineral and energy resources within
the NFS in order to maintain a viable,
healthy minerals industry and to promote
self-sufficiency in those mineral and
energy resources necessary for economic
growth and national defense;
• Ensure that exploration, development and
production of mineral resources are
conducted in an environmentally sound
manner and that these activities are
considered fully in the planning and
management of other NFS resources;
and,
The Forest Service manages mineral resources
in accordance with the Mining and Minerals
Policy Act of 1970, which states, in part, that it
is the "continuing policy of the federal
government in the national interest to foster and
encourage private enterprise in the
development of economically sound and stable
domestic mining minerals and mineral
reclamation industries, ... (and) the orderly and
economic development of domestic mineral
• Ensure that lands disturbed by mineral
and energy activities are reclaimed for
other productive uses.
The Forest Service considers mineral
exploration and development to be a part of its
management program (GMUG Forest Plan,
Page II-61). It cooperates with the U.S.
Department of the Interior, through its agent,
the BLM, in administering lawful development
Deer Creek Ventilation Shaft and E Seam Methane Drainage Wells DEIS 5