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Surface disturbance will have an effect upon wildlife during mining operations. All post-mining areas are to be reclaimed to pre-mining land uses, including wildlife habitat. With successful implementation of the reclamation plan, no long;-term impacts to fish or wildlife are predicted. Wildlife habitat is a planned post-mining land use. The applicant has selected appropriate plant species and distributions to benefit fish and wildlife in accordance with Rule 4.18(4)(1). Pursuant to the finding required by Rule 2.07.6(2)(n), and on the basis of available information, the Division finds the existing and proposed operation will not affect the continued existence of endangered or threatened species, or resuat in the destruction or adverse modification of their critical habitat. X. Subsidence Subsidence was last detected in the July-December 1995 monitoring period, during the last period of active mining. Section 2.05 of the permit application explains that subsidence monitoring for the No. 5 Mine was discontinued on November 1, 1988 following completion of mining in the No. 5. Subsidence monitoring for the No. 6 Mine was suspended in October 1997 after being approved in Technical Revision TR- 30. Monitoring will resume at least one month prior to resumption of mining in the No. 6. The No. 6 will use longwall methods to mine the E seam. Th~° No. 6 Mine underlies the previously mined 5 Mine, which occurred in the F seam. A. Inventory of Structures and Renewable Resource Lands The permit application contains an inventory of structures :tnd renewable resource ]ands within the permit area (Table 78 and Map 25). The applicant identifies three private residences that are within the permit area, but aze outside the azea potentially affected by mining within the five-year permit plan area. The inventory also identifies various mine facilities, an AMOCO oil pipeline, County Road 107 (vacated to RAG Empire Corporation), State Highway 13, a Denver-Rio Grande and Western Railroad spur and irrigation ditches within the; permit area. Renewable resource lands identified within the permit azea include the alluvial valley floors of the Big Bottom area, the Yampa River and the Williams Fork Rivers, the Yampa and Williams Fork Rivers themselves, and several bedrock aquifers. Subsidence predictions vary, depending upon the mining methods utilized. Maximum predicted subsidence where two longwall panels overlap is 13.0 feet. The extraction height for both E and F seams is 10 feet each. For locales where one longwall panel underlies room-and-pillar workings, maxirrtum predicted subsidence is 10.5 feet. In areas where only one seam has been mined using longwall methods, maximum predicted subsidence is 7.5 feet. Further information can be found in permit Section 2.05. RAG Empire Corporation has committed to submitting 33