_GENERAL DOCUMENTS - C1981017 (258)

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Use permit. These permits were held by the now bankrupt mining company. These permits have been either revoked or terminated. No extraction operations are proposed as part of this Non-Point Source Project. Therefore no mining permit is required. The proposed activity conforms to Forest Service requirements, plans and objectives. Therefore, no Special Use permit is required. 3.5 The Division of Minerals and Geology is the Lead Project Sponsor. One aspect of the mission of the Division is to rehabilitate abandoned mined lands in order to return them to a beneficial post mining land use. The Division has a long institutional history of effectively and efficiently stabilizing highly disturbed mined lands in Colorado. The Division has the appropriate experience to assess the magnitude of the erosional problems in Coal Basin, and the expertise to design, contract and oversee the construction tasks necessary to accomplish the Project goals. 3.6 The Best Management Practices proposed for implementation in this proposal are the establishment of vegetative cover on the Mine Bench Outslopes, establishment of shrub sediment barriers at the toe of most Mine Bench Outslopes, and the establishment of tree bands on the Mine Bench Outslopes. The Division of Minerals and Geology will monitor vegetative survival annually following planting. Monitoring and maintenance of the Outslopes, shrub barriers and tree bands swill occur annually for two years. Transects will be located at each Outslope (generally, one each for total cover and shrub barriers) prior to, or in conjunction with planting or seeding. Monitoring will consist of measuring plant materials at transects at each Outslope and shrub barrier, and counting live stems at the tree barriers. Total cover estimates will be derived from field data produced at each Outslope transect. Outslope cover estimates of less than fifteen percent in Year 2 and twenty five percent in Year 3 will trigger maintenance seeding activities. Counts of live stems will be made at transect locations established at the vegetative sediment barriers in Years 2 and 3. A count of less than seventy five percent live stems per transect would trigger re-planting activities. Counts of live stems will be made at the tree bands in Years 2 and 3. A count of less than fifty percent live stems per transect would trigger re-planting activities. Maintenance will consist of such remedial activities as inter-seeding with the appropriate grass and forb species, and mulching at the affected portions of the Outslopes. In the case of shrub or tree band failures, planting of additional trees and shrubs will occur at the affected areas. The data collected from the transects will be provided to the Forest Service and the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment as an integral part of the annual data report. The report will also contain a detailed summary of all maintenance activities undertaken as a result of the observations recorded at the transect locations. Following Project termination after the third growing season, it is anticipated the Forest Service will periodically monitor vegetative establishment at all of the planting areas. Maintenance performed by the Forest Service will likely occur as budgetary conditions and Forest resources permit.