1999-03-18_GENERAL DOCUMENTS - C1981017 (2)

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United States Forest White River Sopris Ranger District Department of Service National PO Box 309 Agriculture Forest Carbondale CO 81623 (970)963-2266 TTY(970)945-3255 FAX(970)963-1012 Reply to: 5400 Date: March 18 ,1999 Mr. Robert Delaney Mid-Continent Resources P.O. Box 2115 G. -' - - enwoorl cp-;-vs CO R1A02 --a Dear Bob: This is in response to your letter of March 2, 1999, regarding the "Prep Plant tract" in Coal Ba- sin. Most of the items in your letter appear to be regarding Civil Action No. 97cvl31-1 pending in Pitkin County District Court. Since the Forest Service is not a party to this action, I choose not to comment on those specific items. However, there appears to be four questions I can pro- vide you with information. The first question involves whether the U. S. is interested in obtaining the "Prep Plant tract". As I stated at our meeting on May 13, 1998, at the CDOT building in Glenwood Springs, CO, the Forest Service is interested in acquiring the remaining parcel of land in Coal Basin. We have searched for uses of the existing improvements and have not identified any need for these to re- main on site, if the United States were the landowner. Thus, our desire would be to acquire with- out the encumbrances that we feel are potential liabilities. The second question involves whether to reclaim the roads to mines #1, #2, and#4 (paragraph c., page 2 of your letter). The current Forest Plan indicates the major uses of the area are for devel- oped skiing, grazing, and non-motorized dispersed recreation. With this management direction, it is appropriate to reclaim ail of the roads, a3 ales i'-Ij;a . -:i:. re-cla-itutiv1 plan. The boalS f^' road reclamation of the Forest Service are to return the drainage to the natural pattern, to stabi- lize the soil, to eliminate road produced sediment in the creeks, and to have the area as mainte- nance free as possible. If a decision is made in the future to allow motorized use, this reclama- tion technique does not preclude this opportunity. The third question involves potential future uses (paragraph c, page 2 of your letter). The motor- ized uses mentioned would not be compatible with the existing Forest Plan Management Direc- tion. As you are aware, the White River National Forest is undergoing a revision to the Forest Plan, but it would be inappropriate for me to guess what any new direction might be. K,6YWp