Laserfiche WebLink
<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 />Northwest Region Service Center <br />711 Independent Avenue <br />Grand Junction, CO 81505 <br />(970) 255-6100 <br />1005109 <br />1 ? <br />AN atpn. <br />V41`MN(%g $nd S cM! <br />4 <br />fO? 0F04 <br />For Wildlife- <br />For People <br />January 6, 2011 <br />Division-,of Reclamation, Mining and Safety <br />Department of Natural Resources <br />Attn: Michael P. Boulay, Environmental Protection Specialist <br />1313 Sherman St., Room 215 <br />Denver, CO 80203 <br />Re: McClane Canyon Mine (Permit No. C-1980-004) Permit Revision (PR2) Expansion of Surface <br />Facilities and Mining Plan <br />Dear Mr. Boulay: <br />The Colorado Division of Wildlife has reviewed the McClane Canyon Coal Mine Waste Rock Disposal <br />Site and Coal Storage Area Wildlife and Sensitive Plan Studies, dated October 2010 for the McClane <br />Canyon Mine (Permit No. C-1980-004), Permit Revision (PR2), Expansion of Surface Facilities and <br />Mining Plan. Since the report did not address operational details of the coal mine facility and <br />operations, our comments are limited to the evaluation of the biological data collected. <br />In general, we feel that the wildlife occurrence data related to terrestrial wildlife was well done. Your <br />conclusions regarding the current state of the vegetative community are accurate. We are pleased to <br />see the updated section on bat species, as suggested by the CDOW in our letter dated 16 July 2010, has <br />been included in the most recent report; however, we feel that the aquatic sections of the report are <br />still lacking detail on species occurrence and abundance. <br />The inventory section of the CAM report mentions results from the CDOW's 2010 sampling of East Salt <br />Creek. CAM makes the statement within this section of the report that impacts to fish may or may not <br />occur within % mile of the project area. However, the report fails to provide documentation as to why <br />impacts will be limited to the extent claimed by CAM except that no fish have been documented by <br />sampling above the mine. Given the complex nature of perennial and ephemeral streams and arid <br />drainages - the high conductivity of the water and the variability.in temporal and spatial biological <br />communities of the streams - CAMS assertion of "unlikely impacts to aquatic resources" is a claim <br />unsupported by adequate documentation. <br />DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES, Mike King, Executive Director <br />WILDLIFE COMMISSION, Tim Glenn, Chair • Robert Streeter, Vice Chair • Marie Smith, Secretary <br />Members, David R. Brougham • Dennis Buechler • Dorothea Farris • Allan Jones • John Singletary • Dean Wingfield <br />Ex Officio Members, Mike King and John Stulp