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RULE 2 PERMITS <br />Recently, the federal status of the greater sagegrouse has been changed to "Candidate for Listing." Prior <br />to this development, during permitting activites for the South Taylor Mining area, regulatory <br />developments convinced Colowyo, the Colorado Division of Wildlife and the Colorado Division of <br />Reclamation, Mining and Safety to target sagegrouse brood rearing habitat for future reclamation <br />planning efforts and overall improvement in shrub establishment on reclaimed lands at Colowyo. The <br />result of these efforts was the approval of TR -72 that rewrote the existing reclamation plan and <br />performance criteria for bond release (TR -72 has since been modified by TR -82 and soon by TR -84 that <br />further refine specific components of the existing reclamation plan). This new plan was developed <br />specifically to create sagegrouse brood rearing habitat, while promoting improved shrub establishment on <br />all reclamation areas. This effort and focus will continue into the future with Collom expansion area <br />reclamation, as the reclamation plan developed for Collom mirrors the principles and innovations applied <br />to the existing mining area. <br />As stated previously, Colowyo will focus on sagebrush steppe establishment as a function of sagegrouse <br />habitat creation. Sagebrush oblitgate species will also benefit from these efforts as a result. Again, please <br />refer to Map 46 for the location of (potentially impacted) pre -mine sagegrouse lek areas and proposed <br />stockponds that will add value for sagegrouse habitat. <br />The proposed reclamation plan focus, reclamation seed mixes, bond release criteria, interim revegetation <br />monitoring program and pre - planning of disturbance to avoidance high value habitat (leks) where <br />practical, was initiated in large part to specificically mitigate potential impacts to area sagegrouse <br />populations from mining activity. Consideration was given to all endemic wildlife populations during the <br />creation of the proposed reclamation plan and seed mixes in order to balance multiple uses among <br />different wildlife species, not only on the sagebrush steppe areas, but areas targeted for grazingland as <br />well. Justification for the use of specific plant materials proposed for the sagebrush steppe and <br />grazingland areas may be found under Section 2.05.4. <br />Electric power lines located in the permit area will be constructed in accordance with the requirements of <br />Section 4.18 to minimize potential electrical hazards to large raptors. <br />Vehicle use within the Collom area will be limited to the active mining area and the various support <br />facilities. Off -road vehicle use is kept to a minimum and is usually only authorized for surveying, <br />environmental data collection and monitoring, security, etc. Travel by foot, which causes much more <br />disturbance to wildlife than vehicle traffic, is highly unlikely outside active mining areas. <br />Any firearm activity inside the proposed Collom area boundaries will be closely managed by Colowyo. <br />Speed limits in the mine area will be limited to reduce the likelihood of collisions between vehicles and <br />wildlife. Colowyo employees are fully aware of the possibility of encountering wildlife on and around the <br />current operation and will take special care to avoid these species in the Collom area. <br />With regard to sage grouse populations, Colowyo believes that the revegetation metrics presented within <br />this submittal address the concern for negative impacts to area populations and brooding habitat. It is <br />anticipated that sage grouse use of reclaimed lands will return to pre- mining levels, or perhaps return to <br />elevated levels as has been experienced at certain Wyoming mining operations. <br />As per Section 4.3.9 Threatened, Endangered, and Sensitive Species, page 53 of the Environmental <br />Assessmenet for Lease -by- Application for the Collom Lease Tract COC- 68590: <br />"The approval and issuance of a federal coal lease as defined in the proposed action would not <br />adversely impact any sensitive wildlife species. However, environmental impacts from any surface mining <br />activity could impact sensitive wildlife species. In general, environmental impacts to sensitive wildlife <br />Collom — Rule 2, Page 124 Revision Date: 1/23/09 <br />Revision No.: PR -03 <br />