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• Fish and Wildlife Plan <br />Mitigation of impacts to fish and wildlife which <br />currently and historically have used the area around the New Elk <br />Mine consists of minimizing the total disturbed area during the <br />life of the operation and by continuous efforts to minimize <br />disturbance and pollution to the existing environmental resources <br />during the life of the operation. A description of the fish and <br />wildlife resources in the permit area and adjacent areas is shown <br />in Exhibit 16, Fish and Wildlife Information. Because the New Elk <br />Mine is an underground operation, it is possible for WFC to <br />minimize the total disturbed area for the surface facilities and <br />structures and thereby minimize the disturbances to habitats which <br />are used by fish and wildlife. Proper location of new additional <br />structures such as fans, access and light use roads, as reviewed in <br />Section 2.05.4 of this application, will be carried out to ensure <br />minimized disturbance to habitat. Due to the maturity of the New <br />Elk operation, additional required disturbed areas are expected to <br />be very small in size and thereby will serve to mitigate the impact <br />on the fish and wildlife of the area. Enhancement of the habitat in <br />• the vicinity of the disturbed area is increased during the life of <br />the mine due to limited access to those areas which are disturbed <br />by the surface mining operations associated with the New Elk Mine. <br />Return of the land to its pre-mining land use after reclamation, as <br />described in Section 2.05.5, will enhance the fish and wildlife <br />resources for the permit area and adjacent areas. Enhancement of <br />this area is due primarily to limited access which WFC currently <br />plans to continue to utilize for its mining operations. <br />Reclamation procedures as reviewed in Section 2.05.9 and <br />associated revegetation procedures will enhance habitat for use by <br />fish and wildlife. <br />During the operation of the New Elk Mine, particular care <br />is currently being exercised to minimize the effect on the wildlife <br />which utilize the area surrounding the New Elk Mine. In fact, any <br />powerlines <br />• <br />z.os-s~ <br />~~,-03 <br />~~~ <br />