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STATE OF COLORADO Bill Owens, Governor DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES DIVISION OF WILDLIFE AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER Bruce McCloskey, Director 6060 Broadway Denver, Colorado 80216 Telephone: (303)297-1192 ~~1 s ~^_~;'GR JUG 1 2 200 August 7, 2005 Kathleen L. Sullivan ~~ Division of Minerals and Geology Department of Natural Resources 1313 Sherman St., Room 215 Denver, CO 80203 RE: Asphalt Specialties Co., Inc., Turnpike Mining Resource, Permit No. M-2004-009 Dear Ms. Sullivan, For iY"i!r!life- For Purple This letter is in response to your request for Colorado Division of Wildlife (CDOW) review of the Amendment application submitted by Asphalt Specialties Co., Inc. This application was prepared for the Tumpike Mining Resource, a 275-acre site located east of Weld County Road 1 and north of State Highway 52 in Weld County. In 1974 the site was approved for sand and gravel mining, processing, and transportation. This application is intended to expand the operation for additional mining on 144.5 acres within the historic permit area and allow batch plants for asphalt and concrete as well as recycling of asphalt. The Colorado Division of Wildlife advises implementing the proposal to minimize negative impacts on wildlife and to maximize any remaining open areas for use as wildlife habitat. Therefore, we have several recommendations. The site includes approximately 0.57 miles of Boulder Creek. Areas adjacent to Boulder Creek are included in the existing mining operation, and the application specifies that previously undisturbed azeas (Cell 3 and Cell 4) adjacent to Boulder Creek are to be mined. Boulder Creek provides valuable riparian habitat for wildlife, and additional disturbance to areas next to this riparian corridor will reduce wildlife use of the Creek. We recommend that existing cottonwood trees and trees along Boulder Creek be preserved to maintain a buffer between mining operations and the riparian areas. In areas where the stream bank has been or will be disturbed, we recommend re- vegetation with native woody vegetation such as willows. We would expect to find a variety of wildlife species on the proposed mining areas and in the riparian habitat, including Preble's Meadow Jumping Mouse (a State and Federally Threatened species), black-tailed prairie dogs, Western Burrowing Owls associated with prairie dog colonies (a State Threatened species), raptors, songbirds, coyotes, foxes, raccoons, waterfowl, and mule deer. We have observed Bald Eagles (a State and Federally Threatened species) roosting in cottonwood trees on the parcel as well. Since prairie dogs are likely to be present on the proposed development area we recommend that they either be captured alive and moved to another location or humanely killed before any earth-moving occurs. Burrowing owls are classified as Threatened in Colorado and killing one is illegal. They live in prairie dog holes and are susceptible to being buried and killed by construction activity. Therefore, we suggest a survey for the presence of burrowing owls prior to any earth-moving. If construction takes place between November 1 and February 28, it is ~~ ~ ~~~i DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES, Russell George, Executive Director WILDLIFE COMMISSION, Jeffrey Crawford, Chair • Tom Burke, Vice Chair • Ken Torres, Secretary Members, Bernard Black • Rick Enstrom • Philip James • Claire O'Neal • Brad Phelps • Robert Shoemaker Ex Officio Members, Russell George and Don Ament