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<br /> <br />• <br />Pysociateo~ <br />vG Of ~G ~PJL C`~O~OT![!~U <br />~ernme~ <br />REPORT ON THE NORTHWEST COLORADO <br />COAL MINE RECLAMATION PROGRAMS, <br />A LOCAL PERSPECTIVE <br />AGNC COAL ISSUES COMMITTEE <br />JOE JANOSEC, CHAIRMAN <br />STEVE LOSHBAUGH, VICE CHAIRMAN <br />September 1, 1993 <br />~~I ~I~I~~il~ll~~ll~ <br />On August 24 and 25, 1993, local government representatives <br />of the AGNC Coal Issues Committee visited 3 surface coal mine <br />reclamation sites in Northwest Colorado. The purpose of the <br />visits was to evaluate first hand the coal mine reclamation <br />efforts of the coal companies involved. Four County <br />Commissioners, two city Councilmen and a representative of AGNC <br />attended one or more of the sites. Sites visited included the <br />Colowyo Mine, Cyprus Colorado Yampa Coal Company Mine, and the <br />Trapper Mine. More than 60 million tons of coal have been <br />produced from these mines. <br />This report will be presented to the Colorado Mined Land <br />Reclamation Board at the Board's September 22 meeting in Craig, <br />Colorado. <br />Overall Results <br />It was the unanimous consensus of the local officials that <br />the coal mine operators are doing an outstanding job with their <br />coal mine reclamation programs. It is no wonder that the <br />companies have each received numerous State and Federal awards in <br />recognition of their reclamation efforts. <br />Further, it is readily apparent that the reclaimed coal <br />lands have become a tremendous wildlife asset in our region. The <br />coal companies and the State and Federal mine regulators should <br />be proud of the reclamation results. <br />The reclaimed coal lands appear to have become "magnets" to <br />elk, deer, antelope and even an occasional moose. We believe <br />these lands, even though less than 1$ of the land in our region, <br />are playing a significant role in the overall health of our <br />wildlife herds in Northwest Colorado. It appears that these <br />lands provide improved and increased forage productivity for <br />wildlife than before they were mined. <br />1 <br />80X351 RIFLE, COLORAD081650 TELEPHONE 303{251723 <br />