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<br />interest in commencing development, but the fact that the option expired without <br />development commencing seems to more strongly suggest that development will not occur. <br />6) Achievement of commercial and industrial uses for areas that were transferred to the adjacent <br />sand and gravel permit area demonstrated achievement of those uses inside the sand and <br />gravel permit area, but does not demonstrate achievement outside of that area, in the SL-04 <br />bond release area. <br />Although the Division recognizes many of the actions taken by Oakridge are activities that logically <br />precede development of land for commercial, industrial, residential, or recreational use, the Division <br />believes the actions do not demonstrate development of an approved postmining land use has <br />substantially commenced. The actions do not represent an ample, sustaining effort to convert a tract <br />of land to a specific purpose. <br />The bond release area currently is open grassland (see Photos 1 and 2, below). The only structures in <br />the bond release area are a former haul road, associated ditches and culverts, and a rock-lined <br />channel. There are no buildings or utilities on the site. Oakridge's work on the ground has not gone <br />beyond the traditional reclamation tasks of backfilling, grading, replacing topsoil, and vegetation re- <br />establishment. None of this work was specific to commercial, industrial, residential, or recreation <br />uses. Although county land use review may not be required prior to commencing industrial, <br />commercial, residential, or recreation construction, required prerequisites to such construction have <br />not been completed, such as obtaining building permits from La Plata County, obtaining well permits <br />from the Colorado Division of Water Resources, or obtaining septic permits from San Juan Basin <br />Health Department (email from La Plata County Planning Department to the Division, dated July 22, <br />2010). Oakridge's reclamation work and preliminary development work are not substantial enough <br />to significantly discourage one from leaving the land as open grassland for many years, before <br />substantially commencing development of any commercial, industrial, residential, or recreation land <br />uses on the ground. <br />The current land use in the disturbed area in the bond release area best fits the definition of either <br />"undeveloped land" or "rangeland", which are defined as: <br />"Undeveloped land" means land with no current use or level of management. It <br />includes land that has never been developed, or if previously developed, land that has <br />been allowed to return naturally to an undeveloped state or has been allowed to return <br />to forest through natural succession. (1.04(71)0)) <br />"Rangeland" means land on which plant cover is principally valuable for forage. <br />Except for brush control, management is primarily achieved by regulating the <br />intensity of grazing and season of use. (1.04(71)(c)) <br />As "undeveloped land" or "rangeland", with no other use being developed on-site, it is unreasonable <br />to characterize the current use of the land as industrial, commercial, residential, or recreation use, <br />even though preliminary steps have been taken off-site toward converting the land to those uses. <br />12