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The tipple was built on fill, which was imported to raise the surface above the meadowland/marsh community. Carex is the predominate species of the community. (Production was measured at 2784 pounds per acre. Vegetation covered 83 percent of the site, with 78 percent of that vegetation being sedges.) Wildlife Extensive inventories of wildlife in or neaz the Ken permit area are documented in Table 33-39 of the permit application. The accompanying discussion is found on pages 779-86aa through 779-104. Mule deer, antelope, I2ichazdson ground squirrels, sage grouse, and golden eagles are likely to be seen at the mine azea, while Canadian geese, mallards, and pintails can be readily observed from the tipple azea. No critical habitats have been identified within the pernut area, although a large wintering ground for a sage grouse lek is located two miles west of the Marr Mine, and antelope frequently winter in the bottom of Bush and Williams Draw. Alone cow moose was observed once within the permit azea in 1992. No threatened or endangered species occupy the pernut area, although bald eagles are frequently observed on the road between Walden and the mine. State-listed threatened and endangered species found in North Park include the Johnny darter, white pelican, American peregrine falcon, and greater sandhill crane. The Johnny darter has been reported in the Canadian, Illinois, and Michigan Rivers. The white pelican and greater sandhill crane are occasional migrants along the Illinois River neaz the loadout. The American peregrine falcon is found east of the pemtit area in the mountains of the Park Range. The Marr Mine operations will have an insignificant impact on threatened and endangered species. DESCRIPTION OF THE OPERATIONS AND RECLAMATION PLANS Kerr Coal opened the Marr Strip Mine in 1974. The mine is located ten miles east of Walden, Colorado, in Jackson County, The mine lies west and southwest of the Canadian River on the East Side of North Pazk, with a permit area covering approximately 1600 acres (measured from Map 2). The Kerr loadout facility is adjacent to the Union Pacific Railroad south of Walden. The facility was constructed on fill in the wetlands of the Illinois River and encompasses nine acres. The Marr Strip Mine produced coal finm the Sudduth seam with atruck-and-shovel operation. The coal dips to the east and northeast at 68°. The mine plan described the extraction of coal from a triangulaz cut, 265 feet deep. Ken• operated two pits, the 720 and Pit 1. Coal extraction from the 720 Pit ceased in 1983 and from Pit 1 in 1993. Annual production over time ranged from a high of 750,000 tons in 1980 and a low of 35,000 tons in 1988. Production in 1992 was 54,918 tons, and in 1993 was 3,528 tons for the single month of January. Based on the 2004 Annual Reclamation Report, there are currently 401.4 acres of disturbance at the mine, of which 44.3 aze approved as permanent facilities. In the past, coal was trucked to the Ken tipple, south of Walden, where it was stockpiled, crushed, screened, and loaded out. The tipple azea is located on fill that has placed the tipple azea surface at Marr Mine Permit Renewal OS 17 March 2006