2012-04-27_PERMIT FILE - M2012010

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COLORADO PARKS & WILDLIFE April 25, 2012 Pueblo Service Center • 600 Reservoir Rd Pueblo, CO 81005 (719) 561 - 5300 wildlife.state.co.us • parks. state. co. us J Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety 1313 Sherman Street, Room 215 Ll 12 Denver, CO 80203 RECEIVED Attn: Stephanie J Reigh, Environmental Protection Specialist APR 2 7 2012 RE: Las Animas County, Jolly Pit, File No. M- 2012 -010 Division of Reeiafnalion, 74 Mifjinq & Safety Dear Ms. Reigh: Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) would like to thank the Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety for giving us the opportunity to comment on the Jolly Pit being proposed by Las Animas County. The general location of the proposed permit is northeast of Aguilar on property owned by Tom Jolly. This request was forwarded to Trinidad East District Wildlife Manager Jeremy Gallegos for comments. The area can best be categorized as short grass prairie with several hills and arroyos. The focus of the impacted area will be on several of the hills near another gravel pit. Wildlife species that may be commonly found in the proposed and surrounding areas are pronghorn, mule deer, scaled quail, western rattle snake, bull snake, black tailed prairie dog, burrowing owl, as well as other various bird species. There are no known active black tailed prairie dog colonies within the boundaries of the proposed area. There are also no known state or federal threatened or endangered species occupying the site. Disturbance to the short grass prairie habitat will occur due to the proposed action; however this disturbance can be reduced if some recommendations are followed. • Care should be taken in the design and construction of access roads to the site to minimize erosion, taking into account proper drainage and sloping of road cuts. Slopes should be seeded with a native seed mix and monitored for successful vegetation establishment. • A stockpile of the removed topsoil should be set aside for reclamation purposes. This stockpile should also be temporarily seeded to minimize erosion losses, and then spread over the mined area prior to seeding with native grasses, forbs, and shrubs. • The site should be sloped to approximate contours that existed prior to mining. STATE OF COLORADO John W. Hickenlooper, Governor • Mike King, Executive Director, Department of Natural Resources Rick D. Cables, Director, Colorado Parks and Wildlife Parks and Wildlife Commission: David R. Brougham • Gary Butterworth, Vice - Chair. Chris Castilian Dorothea Farris • Tim Glenn, Chair. Allan Jones • Bill Kane • Gaspar Perricone • Jim Pribyl • John Singletary Mark Smith, Secretary • Robert Streeter. Lenna Watson • Dean Wingfield Ex Officio Members: Mike King and John Salazar