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~iii~i~ii~i«iiir~i TELLUFIDE TIMES+IOURNAL Telluride, CO (San Miguel County) Thu, 3,479 COLORADO PRESS Y Officials tackle gravel violations by David Owen Cooperation seemed to be the spirit of the day when repre- sentatives of local, state and federal entities met last week to discuss violations at the Tellu- rideGravel gravel pit on the San Miguel River. The May 19 worksession was called by San Miguel County Sanitation ExpertDaveSchneck and attended by all three San Miguel Cou my Commissioners and Telluride Gravel Owner Gary Bennett. Preceded by a walking tour of the site, the discussion opened with Rick Sherman of the De- partmentof Wildlifeexplaining that "headcutting" -a process whereby more material is re- moved than replenished, caus- ingsloughing ofthe riverbanks - had caused significant ero- sion along the south fork of the San Miguel. This, Sherman said, resulted in noticeable changes in the green beltthatsurvives theriver, as well as a dropping watertable. In 1992, the Mary E Camp- ground was ordered closed so 575 dead or dying cottonwood trees could be removed. Sherman, while admitting he was not an ezpeR in hydrology, suggested the construction of a stabilizing structure tv allow the river to rebuild. , He said he believed this could be done while the main fork of the river was still being mined for the areas vast gravel needs. [t was noted that the headcutting had largely taken place on Forest' Service land, and that any type ofreclamation would also occur on that land. A representative of the Forest Ser- vice said there was a meeting planned for this week to discuss the situation. U.S. Fish and' Wildlife Divi- sionrepresentative LucyJordan cautioned against bashing into a reclamation program, express- ing her feeling that rivers are dynamic systems and nota lot is known about how the system might react Bennett pledged to cooper- ate with the different agencies and expressed his pleasure at the meeting, which he said gave him a cohesive idea of what needed to be done. In the past, Bennett said he received differ- ent information from different groups, which was frustrating. Bennett said he would hire a consultant to help him deal with the different pecnrits and plans involved in the reclamation. A second meeting was scheduled for July 14 so that communica- tion could continue among the numerous parties involved. In keeping with the spirit of the meeting, Sherman added, "If they go to court this is going to cost somebody a whole lotof . money, let use that money for reclamation instead."