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'# 1.4 <br />STATE OF COLORADO <br />Bill Ritter, Jr., Governor <br />DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES <br />DIVISION OF WILDLIFE <br />AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER <br />Thomas E. Remington, Director <br />6060 Broadway <br />Denver, Colorado 80216 <br />Telephone: (303) 297-1192 <br />wildlife. state. co. us <br />G. Russell Means, Environmental Specialist <br />Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety <br />1313 Sherman Street, Room 215 <br />Denver, Colorado 80203 <br />4 November 2009 <br />RE: Elam Construction, Inc., ehrman Pit <br />File No. M-2009-078 <br />To Mr. Means: <br />tev') ; " <br />GkOA <br />iT- '*;?N co-? ck <br />? NOV Og 2009 <br />?0wown °t K and Sow h, <br />0019 and <br />?'J°R4PO-\ <br />J' 4 <br />For Wildlife- <br />For People <br />Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the Gehrman Pit operated by Elam Construction. The <br />proposed site is located 0.5 miles southeast of Craig in Section 5, Township 6N, Range 3W, UEth Prime <br />Meridian of Moffat County. The Colorado Division of Wildlife (CDOW) has reviewed this application <br />and would like to provide the following comments. <br />The CDOW believes that the habitat within the development area has a high wildlife value. Wildlife <br />species in the area include deer, elk, eagles, coyotes, bobcats, and numerous other species. Specifically, <br />the area of proposed expansion lies within an identified Bald Eagle Roost Site. The gravel pit activity will <br />take place in or adjacent to riparian habitat. Riparian habitats along with water are crucial for most <br />wildlife in the area throughout the year. The majority of animals use this habitat type for some aspect of <br />their life cycle. Riparian areas are the most fragile to disruption and offer the best habitat to a wide <br />variety of animal species. <br />Potential impacts to wildlife from this proposal could include habitat fragmentation, disruption to <br />migration and habitat connection corridors, as well as diminished value to the beneficial buffer zone this <br />property provides. In recent years a high importance has been placed on removing pike from the Yampa <br />River system in order to protect several endangered fish species downstream. During the mining <br />operation as well as once the site is reclaimed, all connecting irrigation channels as well as the Yampa <br />River bypass should be properly screened to prevent Northern pike ingress and egress. <br />Non-native weed species have become established on many disturbed soils throughout the area. The <br />invasion of non-native weeds reduces the density of native vegetation and lessens the habitat values for <br />native wildlife species. Many of these non-native weeds are not used as forage by wildlife. The continual <br />control and removal of non-native weeds on the disturbed/rehabilitated sites will help restore native <br />vegetation that is valuable to wildlife. <br />The gravel pit lies in an area where native vegetation provides foraging, nesting, and cover habitats for <br />numerous species of wildlife. The removal and disturbance of native vegetation for the construction of <br />the above gravel pit and associated roads will negatively impact the native wildlife species associated <br />with this project area. Upon rehabilitation of gravel pit, negative impacts to native wildlife can be offset <br />DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES, Harris D. Sherman, Executive Director <br />WILDLIFE COMMISSION, Brad Coors, Chair • Tim Glenn, Vice Chair • Dennis Buechler, Secretary <br />Members, Jeffrey Crawford • Dorothea Farris • Roy McAnally • John Singletary • Mark Smith • Robert Streeter <br />Ex Officio Members, Harris Sherman and John Stulp