Laserfiche WebLink
<br />e <br />,•®F <br />' United States Forest Grand Mesa, 2250 Highway 50 <br />• <br />~ Department of Service Uncompahgre and Delta, CO 81416 <br /> Agriculture Gunnison Voice: 970-874-6600 <br /> National Forests TDD: 970-874-6660 <br />• <br /> File Code: 2$20_4 <br />Date: December 1, 2003 <br />Dear Interested Party, <br />The Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forest (GMUG) and the BLM-Colorado <br />State Office (BLM) have prepared an environmental assessment (EA) that considers the effects <br />of leasing a 688-acre parcel of federal and private lands for underground coal mining. The West <br />Flatiron Federal Coa] Lease by Application EA considers the effects of coal leasing on about 568 <br />acres of National Forest System lands, 40 acres of BLM public lands, and the federal minerals <br />underlying 80 acres ofprivate land. The EA was prepared in response to a federal coat lease <br />application submitted by Mountain Coal Company to lease lands adjacent to the existing Wesl <br />Elk mine near Somerset in Gunnison County. The lease would provide about 2.3 million tons of <br />coal, and was submitted to prevent bypassing mineable federal coal reserves. <br />The EA is enclosed for your review. Please read the Following carefully for instructions on how <br />to comment on the respective Forest Service and BLM portions of the EA. <br />Forest Service: This EA is being released for the 30-day public comment period according to <br />36 CFR 215.5. The opportunity to comment on the EA ends 30 days following the date of <br />• publication of a legal notice in the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. Only those who submit <br />timely and substantive comments will be accepted as appellants of the final decision. <br />Substantive comments are defined in 36 CFR 215. Substantive comments must be within the <br />scope of the proposed action, have a direct relationship to the proposed action, and include <br />supporting reasons for the Responsible Official to consider. Also, for appeal eligibility, each <br />individual or representative from each organization submitting comments must either sign the <br />comments or verify their identity upon request. The Forest Service Responsible Official is <br />Robert L. Storch, Forest Supervisor for the GMUG. Comments may be submitted in hard copy <br />through the mail, email, fax or delivered by hand. <br />Mail comments to: Liane Mattson <br />Geologist <br />USDA Forest Service <br />P.O. Box 1030 <br />Paonia, Colorado 81428 <br />Fax Comments to: (970) 527-4151 <br />Electronic comments will be accepted, and must be submitted as a Word document, or in rich <br />text fotmat. Electronic comments should be sent to comments-rocky-mountain-~muQ- <br />paonia(a)fsfed.us. For electronically mailed comments, the sender should normally receive an <br />automated electronic acknowledgement from the agency as confirmation of receipt. If the sender <br />does not receive an automated acknowledgement of the receipt of comments, it is the sender's <br />• responsibility to ensure timely receipt by other means. <br />UPS ~~~ <br />Caring for the Land and Serving People Printed on Recydetl Paper <br />