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Kurtis Blunt <br />?• Colowyo Coal Company <br /> 5731 State Highway 13 <br /> Meeker, CO 81641 <br />• T:970-824-1531 <br /> <br /> <br /> May 4, 2011 <br />Mr. Allan R. Pfister <br />Western Colorado Supervisor <br />Fish and Wildlife Service <br />764 Horizon Drive, Building B <br />Grand Junction, CO 81506-3946 <br />Re: Colowyo Mine (Permit No. C-1981-019) <br />Permit Revision Application No.3 (PR-3) <br />Update the Permit Boundary to Incorporate the Collom Expansion Area <br />USFWS Response to PR-3 Action letter to Colowyo dated February 22, 2011 <br />Mr. Pfister, <br />Thank you for the comments and recommendations generated as a result of your review of the <br />Collom Expansion Area application materials. Colowyo would have provided direct responses <br />to your comments sooner but CDOW staff were unable to arrange a meeting between themselves <br />and Colowyo until April 29, 2011. Many of the issues identified in your letter were discussed <br />specifically at this meeting and Colowyo will be presenting the outcome of those discussions as <br />they are relevant to answering many of your concerns. <br />The disturbance footprint previously provided to your group has been reduced to preserve <br />approximately 212 acres of predominately sagebrush steppe in the Little Collom X Pit area <br />(lower elevation, predominately sagebrush steppe dominated plant community) and therefore <br />expected overall impacts to wildlife species in general have been somewhat reduced. Colowyo <br />will provide you with an updated proposed disturbance boundary for your records so you can <br />update your official determination of habitat impacts if you wish. <br />In order to assist your review of Colowyo's response to your comments, issues will be addressed <br />in the order you identified them in your February 22, 2011 letter. <br />With respect to the updated federal list of threatened and endangered species, and potential <br />candidates for future listing, the four federally-listed fishes on the list would be the only species <br />formally listed as threatened or endangered to potentially be impacted by disturbance created by <br />mining activities through potential water depletions to the Upper Colorado River Basin (as <br />further discussed on pages three and four of your letter). Colowyo is aware of the Section 7 <br />consultation process and has provided information in the application to facilitate CDRMS/OSM <br />participation in this process.