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IN REPLY REFER TO:
<br />ES- 6 -RO -95 -F- 001 -GJ418
<br />TAILS 06E24100- 2012 -F -0009
<br />65413- 2011 -B -0022
<br />Memorandum
<br />To: _
<br />United States Department of the Interior
<br />FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE
<br />Ecological Services
<br />Colorado Field Office
<br />P.O. Box 25486, DFC (65412)
<br />Denver, Colorado 80225 -0486
<br />November 16, 2011
<br />Subject: McClane Canyon Coal Mine and Fruita Loadout Facility
<br />Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement, Denver, Colorado (Attn: Dawn Pacula, Natural
<br />Resources Specialist)
<br />From: Colorado Field Supervisor, Fish and Wildlife Service, Ecological Services, Lakewood, Colorado
<br />In accordance with section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), and the
<br />Interagency Cooperation Regulations (50 CFR 402), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) reviewed your
<br />September 26, 2011, biological assessment (BA) regarding the impacts of the McClane Canyon Coal Mine (Mine) and
<br />Fruita Loadout Facility (Loadout Facility) Project on the endangered bonytail (Gila elegans), Colorado pikeminnow
<br />(Ptychocheilus Lucius), humpback chub (Gila cypha), razorback sucker (Xyrauchen texanus), and their designated critical
<br />habitat. The Mine is owned and operated by CAM - Colorado LLC (CAM). The Mine and surrounding lease area is
<br />located off of Highway 139 in T. 7S, R.102W, sections 14, 21, 23, and 26 Garfield County, Colorado. The Loadout
<br />Facility is located approximately 18 miles south of the Mine in T. 1N, R. 3W, sections 2, 3, 10, and 11, Mesa County,
<br />Colorado. The Loadout Facility is less than 1/2 mile from the mainstem Colorado River. The proposed action will cause a
<br />total average annual depletion of 35 acre -feet; 25.3 acre -feet to the East Salt Creek drainage (from operations at the Mine)
<br />and 9.7 acre -feet to the Reed Wash drainage (from operations at the Loadout Facility), which are tributary to the Colorado
<br />River in the Upper Colorado River Basin.
<br />CAM filed Permit Revision application No. 2 (PR -2) in November 2010 to expand surface facilities and increase
<br />underground coal production from 280,000 tons per year to 500,000 tons per year. Existing Mine features include an
<br />office complex, a portal bench area, topsoil storage area, and a road. Proposed features at the include a coal
<br />cleaning plant, a coal waste disposal area, expanded stockpile area, roads, and a new sediment pond. Proposed features at
<br />the Loadout Facility include haul roads, an access road, light use roads, a coal truck off -load area, a coal stockpile, a
<br />loading system, and a rail loop and spur track. The project also includes a Lease Modification from the Bureau of Land
<br />- Management (BLM) to expand the Mine lease area by 320 acres.
<br />OSM concluded there would be no effect to the Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis), Mexican spotted owl (Strix occidentalis
<br />lucida), greenback cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki stomias), Sclerocactus glaucus (Uinta Basin hookless cactus),
<br />Spiranthes diluvialis (Ute ladies'- tresses), Phacelia submutica (De Beque phacelia), and Penstemon debilis (Parachute
<br />beardtongue). Therefore, these species will not be addressed further in this consultation.
<br />The Service concurs with OSM's determination that the proposed average annual depletion associated with the Mine and
<br />Loadout Facility may affect, and is likely to adversely affect the endangered Colorado River fishes. Therefore, the
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