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Volume III - Tab 9 RARE EARTIi SCIENCE www.rareearthscience.com December 5, 2007 James E. Stover J.E. Stover & Associates, Inc. PO Box 60340 Grand Junction, CO 81506 Re: Threatened & Endangered Species Inventory Renewal No. 5 of State Permit No. C- 1981 -038 Bowie No. 1 Mine, Delta, Colorado Dear James: This letter and the attached figures report the results of a threatened and endangered (T &E) species inventory completed by Rare Earth Science, LLC (Rare Earth), for Renewal No. 5 of Bowie No. 1 Mine Permit No. C- 1981 -038 issued by the Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining, and Safety (DRMS). The DRMS requested this inventory in a Permit Renewal Application Adequacy Review dated October 18, 2007. Bowie No. 1 Mine is an underground coal mine in Delta County, Colorado, in the East Roatcap Creek, Stevens Gulch, West Fork Terror Creek, and Terror Creek drainages of the North Fork of the Gunnison River (North Fork River) watershed (Figure 1). The original permit for the Bowie No. 1 Mine was issued on September 24, 1981. The mine is currently in reclamation. Reclamation activities include recontouring and reseeding of past surface disturbances. Renewal No. 5 of the Bowie No. 1 Mine DRMS Permit is a routine renewal: no new areas of surface disturbance and no changes to the mine's activities are proposed. However, a criterion for permit renewal under Rule 2.07.6(2)(n) of the Regulations of the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board for Coal Mining (effective August 30, 1980) requires DRMS to make a finding regarding whether permitted activities will affect the continued existence of T &E species or result in destruction or adverse modification of their critical habitat. The purpose of this letter is to update the T &E species analysis for the mine to reflect the current T &E lists (see Table 1, below) issued by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the Colorado Division of Wildlife (CDOW). Since the time of the T &E inventory work performed during the original DRMS permit application process and subsequent permit renewals, the conservation status of several species under federal and /or state law has changed. Table 1 lists the T &E species required for consideration by this inventory, summarizes their habitat requirements, and indicates whether suitable habitat for each species is present within the permit boundary. Impacts to species for which suitable habitat occurs within or adjacent to the mine permit boundary are discussed in the "Impacts Evaluation" portion of this letter. Species for which no suitable habitat exists within or adjacent to the permit boundary were eliminated from further analysis. PO Box 1245 Paonia, Colorado 81428 970.527.8445 dawn @rareearthscience.com