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<br />d, The reclamation plan will require the permanent blocking <br />and covering of portals, the removal of unusable buildings and their <br />foundations, the removal of tanks, rail and other mining appurten- <br />ances. Rehabilitation of the affected land will be essentially a level- <br />ing, compacting and reseeding effort, The affected area will not be <br />returned to its presently unsightly array of old buildings, unusable <br />mining equipment, mine excavations and dumps, and concrete structures. <br />Trees and shrubs native to the area will be planted in the af- <br />fected area after it is leveled, Grasses may be planted on leveled <br />areas but not on hillsides, <br />Soils in the portal areas presently are a mixture of fine shale, <br />• sandstone and fine rock and coal debris with little organic matter <br />except in small accumulations along the trough of the gulleys. Trees <br />and shrubs seem to thrive; grasses do not do well, perhaps because <br />thin soil and a lack of precipitation in recent years, <br />There is no evidence that deer, elk or other large wildlife <br />animals frequent either of the proposed portal areas. The main por- <br />tal area is fairly close to U. S. Highway 160 and there is no surface <br />water, except possibly during the Spring runnoff in this area. The <br />upper portal site, P-2, is in a relatively steep-sloped gullcy with <br />little room for the animals to maneuver, and surface waters of any <br />character arc absent here. <br />• Water resources, surface and ground waters, will not be af- <br />-6- <br />