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aP??N,gNT OF Ty?i <br />p United States Department of the Interior <br />Al <br />7 ? <br />FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE <br />?QROH ,a°9 Ecological Services <br />764 Horizon Drive, Building B <br />Grand Junction, Colorado 81506-3946 <br />IN REPLY REFER TO: <br />ES/GJ-6-CO-04-F-012-YP26 <br />TAILS 65413-2009-F-0179 <br />September 17, 2009 <br />Memorandum <br />To: Natural Resource Specialist, Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and <br />Enforcement, Denver, Colorado <br />From: Acting Western Colorado Supe sor, Fish d Wildlife Service, Ecological <br />Services, Grand Junction, Colorado <br />Subject: Trapper Mine PR-06 Biological Op? "on <br />This responds to your June 15, 2009, request for formal consultation under section 7 of the <br />Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended. Your request is for the Trapper Mine located in <br />Moffat County, Colorado, six miles south of Craig. The Mine proposes to mine coal from an <br />additional' )12 acres within its 10,382.3-acre permit area. The subject project will cause an <br />average annual depletion of 94.0 aere-leet/year to the Yampa FUN-CU, Www1 wily alICUL L11G <br />endangered Colorado pikeminnow (Ptychocheilus lucius), razorback sucker (Xyrauchen <br />texanus), humpback chub (Gila cypha), bonytail (Gila elegans), and their designated critical <br />habitat. <br />A Recovery Implementation Program for Endangered Fish Species in the Upper Colorado River <br />Basin was initiated on January 22, 1988. The Recovery Program was intended to be the <br />reasonable and prudent alternative to avoid jeopardy to the endangered fishes from impact:, of <br />water depletions to the Upper Colorado River Basin. In order to further define and clarify the <br />------ process-ul tlie-Recovery- - Progr? am-a section-7-a eement was-imp lemented on October-15-,1-99? - <br />?' <br />by the Recovery Program participants. Incorporated into this agreement is a Recovery <br />Implementation Program Recovery Action Plan (RIPRAP) which identifies actions currently <br />believed to be required to recover the endangered fishes in the most expeditious manner. <br />On January 10, 2005, the Service issued the final programmatic biological opinion on the <br />Management Plan for Endangered Fishes in the Yampa River Basin (this document is available <br />for viewing at the following internet address: http://www.r6.fws.gov/cirip/yainpaPBO.htm). The <br />Service has determined that projects that fit under the umbrella of the Yampa River PBO would <br />avoid the likelihood of jeopardy and/or adverse modification of critical habitat for depletion <br />impacts to the Yampa River basin. For projects involving water depletions less than 100 <br />AF/vear to fit under the umbrella of the Yampa River PBO, the Federal agency requesting <br />consultation must document the project location, the amount of the water depletion, identify -if