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agricultural practices. The juniper community covers 1.8 acres. This type is actually an <br /> agricultural sub-type as the herbaceous understory is alfalfa hay meadow. Utah juniper trees <br /> are well scattered. The riparian community covers 1.9 acres and occurs along drainages. <br /> Six general vegetation types are found on the New Horizon Mine 2 area: irrigated pasture, <br /> irrigated hay land, irrigated cropland (small grains), swale/drainage, sagebrush/grass, and <br /> various miscellaneous types related to old farmsteads, abandoned orchards, and disturbed <br /> areas. The New Horizon 2 area is more intensively used for agricultural purposes than the <br /> New Horizon Mine 1 area was. Irrigated agricultural land (pasture, hayland, and cropland) <br /> comprises 130.9 acres, or 59.5 percent of the total 219.9-acre permit area. The <br /> swale/drainage vegetation type accounts for 56.3 acres, or 25.6 percent of the total proposed <br /> permit area addition, while the upland area sagebrush/grass type covers 24.1 acres, or 11.0 <br /> percent. Miscellaneous types account for the remainder of the land area (8.6 acres, or <br /> 3.9 percent). <br /> The New Horizon Mine 1 permit area and surrounding area is used by a large variety of <br /> wildlife including coyotes, fox, mule deer, elk (in the winter) and numerous bird species. <br /> Description of the Operations and Reclamation Plan <br /> New Horizon Mine 1 <br /> The presently permitted New Horizon Mine 1 encompasses 426.6 acres of which 145.7 acres <br /> was affected my mining activities. Several areas of ungraded "pre-law" spoils existed when <br /> Peabody acquired the mine in 1963. These areas were reclaimed in conjunction with existing <br /> mine operations. Since 1986 and inclusive of 1988, coal was removed at a combined total of <br /> 311,750 tons from four different areas. It is projected that coal yields from the New <br /> Horizon Mine 2 area in 1993 through 1998 will total 373,600 tons per year. <br /> Prior to the mine temporarily ceasing operations in 1983, coal was mined using two five-yard <br /> draglines to remove overburden. Since reactivation of mining operations in late 1986, <br /> Peabody changed to using dozers and scrapers for overburden removal activities. Two coal <br /> seams were removed from Mine Areas 1 and 4, whereas one coal seam was removed from <br /> Mine Areas 2 and 3. The upper coal seam was previously mined by Peabody in Mine Areas <br /> 2 and 3 under interim permit 75-36 issued by the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board. <br /> After the coal seams were recovered, the pits were backfrlled and graded. The regraded area <br /> approximates the original surface contours. The area has been topsoiled and revegetated. To <br /> date, no bond release has been requested. <br /> New Horizon Mine 2 <br /> In February 1993, Western Fuels of Colorado commenced surface mining at the Mine 2 <br /> area. The annual production is approximately 400,000 tons per year. At this time, <br /> concurrent reclamation activities are about to commence. Topsoil salvaging depths and plans <br /> are detailed in Tab 9 of the permit revision application; however, actual topsoil recovery has <br /> been less than projected due to discrepancies found in the Peabody topsoil depth estimates. <br /> 10 <br />