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Irrigated agriculture supporting livestock pasture and alfalfa hayland was the dominant land use. <br /> Other land uses such as grazing of sagebrush habitats and wildlife use are largely incidental to <br /> management associated with the irrigated lands. <br /> Post-mining,ERMR is proposing to reclaim the land to irrigated pasture,irrigated cropland-alfalfa <br /> hay and dryland pasture. The distinction between irrigated cropland and irrigated pastureland is <br /> that more intensive management practices are allowed for cropland. The remaining lands will be <br /> returned to a combination of developed water resources (ponds), roads and commercial facilities. <br /> G. Fish and Wildlif e <br /> The area surrounding the NHM permit is used by a large variety of wildlife including coyotes, fox, <br /> mule deer, elk(in the winter) and numerous bird species. <br /> H. Climate <br /> The regional climate of the Nucla area is typical of intermountain regions. The climate is <br /> characterized by cold winters, hot summers, low rainfall, and short growing seasons. The mine <br /> receives approximately 12 inches of precipitation in an average year. The majority of the <br /> precipitation falls between October and May. <br /> IV. Description of the Operations <br /> New Horizon Mine 1 <br /> The New Horizon Mine 1 mine block encompassed 98.6 acres. The original permitted Mine 1 <br /> block encompassed a significantly larger area, but the remainder of the original permit block has <br /> been fully released from liability. The Mine 1 block was incorporated into ERMR's New Horizon <br /> North Mine in June 2012. <br /> New Horizon Mine 2 <br /> In February 1993, surface mining operations commenced at the New Horizon Mine 2. The annual <br /> production was approximately 400,000 tons per year. Historically, mining and reclamation <br /> activities were concurrent. Extraction of the coal resources were completed in 2013. The <br /> northwestern area of the permit is awaiting final backfilling and grading. <br /> Topsoil salvaging depths and plans are detailed in section 2.04.9 and 2.05.4(2)(d). Actual topsoil <br /> recovery was less than originally projected in portions of the original (pre-PR-5)permit area, due <br /> to discrepancies found in the Peabody topsoil depth estimates. A mitigation plan was approved <br /> by the Division and implemented by the mine in 1996. <br /> Whenever possible, topsoil was live hauled to active reclamation areas. However, this was not <br /> always possible (particularly in the case of acreage designated as Prime Farmland), and some <br /> topsoil was stockpiled. Stockpiled topsoil will be protected from wind and water erosion by <br /> 17 <br />