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Section, 28 W'/zW'/z; Section, 29 All; Section, 30 E''/z; Section, 31 All; Section, 32 All; Section, 33 W'/z; Township 6 North, Range 92 West 6`h P.M. Section, 25 (portions of the S%z); Section, 26 S'/zSE'/a; - Section, 35 W'/z; Section, 36 All. These lands encompass approximately 6,363 acres and are found on the USGS 7.5 minute quadrangle maps of Round Bottom and Castor Gulch. The mining operations used a combination of room and pillar and longwall mining methods to recover coal from the Williams Fork "E" and "F" coal seams from 1971 until 1995. In December1995, the mine was placed in temporary cessation and the only activity since that time has been the pumping of water from the underground works to maintain a stable mine pool for a return to production at some date in the future and the maintenance of environmental controls. Mine facilities for portals, parking, shops, equipment storage, breakers, silo, load-out and other support facilities have disturbed approximately 422 surface acres including the reclaimed Williams Fork Strip Pit No. 2. Specifically, RN-OS proposes to renew Colorado State permit C-81-044 for a period of five (5) additional years. It is anticipated that the mine will remain in temporary cessation for the majority of the renewed permit term. As a part of the permit renewal process CO-DMRS requested that BTU Empire Corporation reexamine previous Threatened and Endangered species consultations for the Eagle 5 & 9 mine to ensure that all listed and candidate species have been addressed. Site Description The portals for the Eagle 5 & 9 mine are driven into the steep-sided walls of the valley that the Williams Fork River has cut through the Williams Fork Mountains above its confluence with the Yampa River at the northwest corner of the permit area.. Elevations of the permit area ranges from 6,300 feet above mean,sea level in the Big Bottom area to 7,400 feet above mean sea level at the Williams Fork Mountains. The vegetation communities within the permit area vary from Cottonwood -willow riparian habitat along the rivers to juniper and big sagebrush on more xeric sites. Lands disturbed by mining are dominated by upland big sagebrush and mountain shrub communities. There are two types of crop lands within the permit area consisting of irrigated hayfields in the river bottom areas and dryland wheat on cleared hillsides.