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Measures to protect wildlife and related environmental values are presented in Section 4.18 in <br /> Volumes 1, 12, and 15 of the PAP. No threatened or endangered species have been identified in <br /> the permit area. No critical habitat for any such species is known to exist within the permit area. <br /> Herds of deer and elk are regularly seen grazing on the reclaimed area, most notably during the <br /> winter. Rodent and small game populations have reestablished on reclaimed areas and small <br /> birds and raptors are numerous on reclaimed and adjacent undisturbed areas. <br /> With the exception of the immediate vicinity of the pump station on the Wilson Reservoir, there <br /> is no fish habitat or fish within the areas to be mined or reclaimed. <br /> 5.0 Description of the Operations and Reclamation Plans <br /> 5.1 Operations Plan <br /> Mining Activity <br /> Detailed information on the Mine Operations Plan is found in Section 2.05.3 (Volume 1 for the <br /> East Pit, West Pit, Section 16 Pit, Facilities Area and Gossard Loadout; Volume 12 for South <br /> Taylor Pit; Volume 15 for Collom Pit) of the PAP. Performance standards associated with <br /> mining operations are found in Section 4 (Volume 1 for the East Pit, West Pit, Section 16 Pit, <br /> Facilities Area and Gossard Loadout; Volume 12 for South Taylor Pit; Volume 15 for Collom <br /> Pit) of the PAP and are summarized in Section B of this document. <br /> The Colowyo Coal Mine is a strip mine and consists of five pits (East Pit, West Pit, Section 16 <br /> Pit, South Taylor Pit, and Collom Pit) operating within 26,173 permitted acres. Mining <br /> operations have ceased in the East Pit and West Pit, and only reclamation of the final cut in the <br /> West Pit remains. All of the East Pit has been regraded, topsoiled and reseeded. Current mining <br /> operations are in the South Taylor Pit and these operations will continue in the future per the <br /> mine plan. Colowyo has begun construction on support facilities associated with the Collom Pit, <br /> but no coal extraction has occurred within the Collom Pit. All disturbance activities are limited <br /> to the information provided in Exhibit 13C of the PAP. <br /> Mining operations began in 1976 with the Section 11 Pit, a multiseam coal operation that <br /> continued to move in a southerly direction, extending and expanding into what is known as the <br /> East Pit. Eight coal seams (Y, X, A, B, C, D, E, F) were mined from the East Pit, ranging in <br /> thickness from two to fifteen feet. The East Pit is nearly 6,000 feet from east to west (width), <br /> 1,000 feet in breadth (highwall to highwall), and 450 feet deep. Due to the number of coal <br /> seams, immense size of the pit, and manpower and equipment employed, pit progression was <br /> slow, with additional disturbances of approximately 40 to 50 acres per year. The East Pit <br /> reached a steady state where acreage disturbed approximately equaled acreage reclaimed in any <br /> given year. However, reclamation of the East Pit disturbed areas was modified with the <br /> placement of the West Pit development excess spoil. Extraction of coal from the East Pit was <br /> terminated in 2006 (Drawing 23 of the PAP). Currently, all reclamation activities have been <br /> completed in the East Pit. <br /> Proposed Decision and Findings of Compliance January 5,2023 <br /> Permit Renewal No. 8 Page 122 <br />