2007-08-08_PERMIT FILE - C1981033

• Permit No: C1981033
• IBM Index Class Name: Permit File
• Doc Date: 8/8/2007
• Section_Exhibit Name: EXHIBIT 10 FISH AND WILDLIFE RESOURCES INFORMATION
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

J.E. Stover & Associates, Inc
June 2007
7
Page 7
sluggishly - flowing ditches or streams interspersed in subalpine forests (lodgepole pine, Englemann
spruce, subalpine fir, or aspen) at elevations higher than approximately 8,000 feet. Breeding
success requires permanent or semi - permanent water sources, although breeding also takes place
in ephemeral water sources. Although the toads may move up to 4 kilometers from their breeding
habitat following breeding season, they are never far from damp soil or leaf litter conditions.
Due to the presence of only marginal habitat within the mine permit boundary (scattered patches or
stringers of mixed fir and deciduous vegetation in semi - riparian settings), and due to the fact that
mine - related surface disturbance does not lie within or near wetland or riparian habitats within the
species' normal elevation range, the proposed renewal of the Bear Mine permit is not likely to result
in the loss of boreal toad habitat or individual animals.
Fishes
The upper Colorado River Basin is home to 12 native fish species, four of which are listed as
endangered: bonytail, Colorado pikeminnow, humpback chub, and razorback sucker ( USFWS
1991). Decline of the four endangered species is due at least in part to habitat destruction
(diversion and impoundment of rivers) and competition and predation from introduced fish species.
In 1994, the USFWS designated critical habitat for the four endangered species at Federal Register
56(206):54957- 54967, which in Colorado includes the 100 -year floodplain of the upper Colorado
River from Rifle to Lake Powell, and the Gunnison River from Delta to Grand Junction.
None of the four endangered Colorado River fishes occur in or near the mine permit boundary and
the mine permit boundary does not occur within or adjacent to designated critical habitat. The
closest designated critical habitat and the closest potential populations of the Colorado pikeminnow,
humpback chub, and razorback sucker are in the Gunnison River, more than 25 miles southwest of
the mine boundary. The bonytail is presumed to be extirpated from Colorado.
Potential impacts to Colorado River endangered fishes could result from water depletion in the
drainage of the North Fork River, a tributary of the Gunnison River. Water consumption in the
greater Colorado River basin has the potential to diminish backwater spawning areas in
downstream designated critical habitat in the Colorado River. The current water consumption rate
for the Bear Mine is 0.45 acre -feet per year. This consumption rate remains unchanged for the
proposed renewal of the Bear Mine permit.
The Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program, a partnership of public and private
organizations working to recover the four species while allowing continued and future water
development, was established in 1988. Recovery strategies include conducting research, improving
river habitat, providing adequate stream flows, managing non - native fish, and raising endangered
fish in hatcheries for stocking. The USFWS has determined that the Recovery Program has made
"sufficient progress to be the reasonable and prudent alternative to avoid the likelihood of jeopardy
to the endangered fishes and to avoid destruction or adverse modification of their critical habitat by
depletions of 100 acre -feet or less."
To date, no formal consultations have occurred between the Department of Interior Office of
Surface Mining and the USFWS under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act regarding water
depletions by Bear Mine to endangered fish habitat.
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