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Dave Berry <br />June 8, 2011 <br />Page 3 of 5 <br />L A W Y E R S <br />days. The lands owned jointly by Mr. Garvey and WFC, where Garvey has retained the right to <br />remove hay, are the lands where the complainant, Ms. Turner, has in previous years conducted <br />haying activities under contract to Mr. Garvey. A memorandum of this conversation is attached <br />as Exhibit 5 <br />Mr. Staats stated that he wanted to send a letter directly to the Division concerning these issues, <br />and WFC is informed that he did so. A copy of the letter is attached as Exhibit 6 . In the letter, <br />Mr. Staats states !that haying activities typically take place during a time frame that typically <br />begins around June 10 of each year, but can run from "mid June to mid July" of each year. The <br />import of his comments is that the timing of haying depends on a multitude of factors such as <br />water availability, pest control, and weather. <br />Mr. Staats also indicates that while some farmers take their first cut of hay in the month of May, <br />it is not common practice. This statement appears inconsistent with the claims made in the <br />citizen complaint to the effect that May is the preferred or normal month for first -cut haying <br />activity to take place. <br />Again, WFC has in past years relied upon input from these farmers in setting its schedule for <br />revegetation studies. There does not appear to be any basis for changing that practice based on <br />the review of this information that was prompted by the citizen complaint. In light of the <br />vagaries of scheduling haying each year, the key component for both WFC and the landowners <br />appears to be flexibility and mutual accommodation, which does not appear to be lacking on <br />either side. Ms. 'Turner made no effort to contact WFC about the matters raised in her complaint <br />before filing the complaint with the agencies. <br />Comparison of Haying Practices Within and Outside the Permit Area <br />WFC's investigation also encompassed farming lands outside the Permit Area. On June 5, 2011, <br />Mine Manager Lance Wade toured the lands near the mine site (referred to in local parlance as <br />the "park" areas) and reported the findings summarized in the memorandum attached as <br />Exhibit 7 <br />According to this investigation, no farmers outside the Permit Area were attempting to hay their <br />fields as of the date of the review (one farmer has started haying after the review was <br />completed). To the contrary, they were still actively irrigating, meaning that haying will in most <br />cases not take place for a period of at least several days following the date of Mr. Wade's review <br />of the properties. Thus, farmers within and outside of the Permit-Area are all scheduling their <br />haying for mid -June of 2011 at the earliest. It is reasonable to infer based on these facts that <br />WFC's revegetation studies within the Permit Area are not significantly affecting the haying <br />schedule there. <br />