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• <br />~W1R <br />Ylnited States Depalrtment of the Interior <br />FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE <br />~_ rxvingiW swixs <br />764 Hpr'vun Hove, auilAing 8 <br />GtaM lurcfgR COIW+d~ 81506-)W6 <br />M REFLY RL•FER TO: <br />• '2 ^c <br />Z ";d~ <br />2 s <br />~' t~ <br />?ti <br />ES-G-R.O-95-F-001-GJ291 <br />MS 65412 GJ <br />~o-0z-z~ 11,0200D <br />Sandy Vane-Miller, Wildlife Biologist <br />Office of Surface, Miniag, Reclamation, and Enforcement <br />1994 Broadway, Sttite 3320 <br />17enver, Colorado 80202-5733 <br />Dear Ms. Vans-Milter: <br />., <br />In accordanct: with section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. <br />I53 ] et seq.), and the Interagency Cooperation Regulations (50 CFR 402), the Fish and Wildlife <br />Service reviewed your December 20, 1999, correspondence regarding the impacts of McClttne <br />Canyon Mint: on endattgetcd Colorado River fishes. The McClane Canyon Mine owned by <br />I;tidestar Energy, Inc., has increased their coal production rate and water usage necessitating a <br />Technical Revision (! 0) to their petmit. The project is located in several sections of T. 7 S., <br />R. 102 Id County, Colorado. The proposed action will cattle an average atmttal <br />depletion f 0.9 ere-feet to East Salt Creek, a tributary of the Colorado River in the Upper <br />Colorado olio. <br />A Recovery Implementation Program for Endazrgered Fish Species in the Upper Colorado River <br />Basin was initialed ort January 22, [98$. The Recovery Program was intended to be the <br />reasonable and prudent altetnative to avoidjeopardy to the endangered fishes by depletions from <br />the Upper Colorado River Basin <br />In order to further define and clarify the process in the Recovery Program, a section 7 agreement <br />was implemented on October 15, 1993, by the Recovery Program participants. Incorporated into <br />this agreement is a Recovery Implementation Program Recovery Action .Plan which identities <br />actions currently believed to be required to recover the endangered fishes in the most expeditious <br />manner. <br />Lncluded in the Recovery Program was the requirement that a depletion fee would be paid to help <br />support the Recovery Program. On July 8, 1997, the Service issued arr intro-Service biological <br />opinion dUermining that the depletion fce for depletions of L00 acro-fcct or less ate no longer <br />required ba~ause the Recovery Program has made sufficient progress to be the reasonable and <br />• prudent altt:tnative to avoid the likelihood of jeopardy to the endangered fishes and to avoid <br />McClane Appendix P 1178100 <br />