Hello Jeff, I just mailed you a location map for Pat Daileys suction dredge proposal. I also included a more detailed description of his proposal. The description was written by me after reviewing his plan in the field with him. The plan that he submitted just said "suction dreging" and didn't elaborate on the details. He has concurred that this description accuarately describes his proposal. If you still want to see the plan you will need to submit a FOIA request. That can be done by e-mail to: mgooby@fs.fed.us. We received two comment letters on Mr. Daileys proposal. Your letter contained the only substantive comments that we will be addressing in the EA. We expect to distribute the EA for notice and comment some time in April. I did want to address two of your points at this time just so you have the information now. The EA, will however, contain this same info in more detail Our fish surveys show only the presence of an introduced strain of cutthroat trout. These fish were actually introduced by the miners many years ago. The Final Critical Habitat Designation for Bull Trout, just released by USFWS, does not include any of the Salmon-Challis NF. The proposed critical habitat designation for chinook salmon, currently out for public comment by NOAA, does not include the Salmon-Challis NF. NOAA's proposed critical habitat for steelhead does include portions of the Salmon-Challis but not East Boulder Creek. I have not talked this over yet with the District Ranger to see how he wants to handle it. Thats why I didn't elaborate more on it in the legal notice. The project area is located in the south-central portion of the Napolean Ridge Roadless Area #13501. In order to access the project area the Operator will utilize roads that were constructed in the 1980's for timber harvest. These are permanent system roads that are opened year round to the public. The Operator’s proposals include no new road construction. A closed two-track non-system road lies immediately to the west of his stream section. This road was the original access route to the placer claims. The Operators proposal lies entirely within an area that has had past placer mining. As I mentioned previously, the EA will address the balance of your comments that are within the scope of this project........................Russ Russ Bjorklund Minerals Management Specialist Salmon-Challis National Forest 50 HWY 93 S Salmon, ID 83467 208-756-5283 FAX 208-756-5151 rbjorklund@fs.fed.us Jeff Juel To rbjorklund@fs.fed.us, 02/09/2005 11:20 thershey@fs.fed.us, AM comments-intermtn-salmon-challis-sa lmon-cobalt@fs.fed.us cc Subject East Boulder Creek suction dredging comments Attached, in MS Word format, are our comments on the East Boulder Creek suction dredging proposal. Please acknowledge, via email, that you've received these comments. Thanks, ><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>< Jeff Juel The Ecology Center, Inc. 314 North First Street West Missoula, MT 59802 406-728-5733 fax: 406-542-7347 mailto:jeffjuel@wildrockies.org Visit the Ecology Center website at: http://www.wildrockies.org/teci(See attached file: East Boulder Suction Dredging.do =UTF-8BRWFzdCBCb3VsZGVyIFN1Y3Rpb24gRHJlZGdpbmcuZG9j=.doc