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iii iiiiiiiiiiiu iii <br />July 17, 19137 ~~~1"41 <br />Colonel t.'ayne J. Schali r'~~ 7 i9$7 <br />V.S. .Army Corps of Engineers ~L)lI+IEDLAl+1D <br />Sacra,~ento District l~ECLAMA7t0lrT plVlSjfl;y <br />650 Capitol !^,all <br />Sacramento, CA 95II14 <br />~:: SPt.CO-O. Public Notice No. 9668; P4r. T:obert S. .Satthews <br />Dear Culunel Scholl: <br />'t'ilts is in response to Public iaotice No. 96G8 in which Hr. Robert S. <br />l~iatt~~ewe, Dalton Land and Cattle Company, is requesting a permit to <br />place fill material into the Animas 33ver, l:a Plata County, Colorado. <br />the stated purpose of the project is to mine sand and gravel an to <br />present erosion of adjacent pasture lands. The proposed project <br />consists of placing temporary dikes to facilitate aggregate mining. A <br />maximum of 1,800 cubic yards of material would be used to construct <br />the tempory dikes. llikes would be removed and reconstructed as mining <br />operation proPressed from river mile 77.0 to 78.2. The purpose of the <br />dikes would be to isolate extraction areas from the active river <br />channel to prevent entry of sediment into the river. Approximately <br />50,000 tons of sand and gravel would be removed from the pit annually. <br />The ::pplicant additionally proposes to us¢ grav¢1 beddinLr and riprap <br />or gtibion baskets to prevent further erosion along sections of thc- <br />river banks. This would require approximately 6,OOD cubic yards of <br />material. <br />These comments have been prepared under the authority of, and in <br />accordance with, the provisions of the Endangered Species Act (1E• <br />U.S.C. 7.531 et seg.) and the T?ish and Wildlife Coordination Act <br />(48 Stat. as amended; 16 II.S.C. 661 ~aC sue.). <br />[Je concur eith your "no effect" determination For threatened and <br />endangered species. <br />The adverse effects of gravel mining operations on fish and <br />wildlife habitat in this area of the Animas River have been a <br />concern for several years. The hydrolog;,~ of [he river has been <br />drastically altered in recent years, resulting in massive bank <br />erosion. ibis alteration has resulted in the loss of streac~side <br />wetland and riparian vegetation and the habitat which they <br />provided. TF:e impacts from existing pits have been significant, <br />continuing and essentially uncontrolled. i~Tining activities <br />have. resultE~d in loss of habitat and damage to private land. <br />TlleY'? teas hee^ at least one permitted attempt to rectify ti:ose <br />dac~ges lPuhl.ic idutices S11S and 5?4D). It appears from ti±¢ <br />at L'ached letter from t4s. Tana Jo Chapin, and a recent site visit, <br />that tills e_fort will not bring about the desired results. <br />