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Numerous wildlife species inhabit the general area of the mine site. The most <br />predominant big game species are elk and deer. Common raptors are Golden Eagle, <br />Red-Tailed Hawk, Great Horned Owl, Marsh Hawk and American Kestrel. <br />Description of the Operation and Reclamation Plans <br />The Seneca II Mine is a surface operation utilizing area strip techniques. <br />Surface disturbance at the site includes the active surface mining pits, an auger <br />mining area, and mine-related structures and facilities. Mining occurs in two <br />pits, the Wadge and Wolf Creek. The Wadge pits currently mine the Wadge coal seam <br />to depths of 100 feet. The Wadge pits are oriented northwest to southeast, <br />progressing in a northeast direction. The Wolf Creek pits recover the Wolf Creek <br />seam to depths of 140 feet, are oriented northeast to southwest, and are <br />progressing in a southeast direction. Production rates for this permit term are <br />projected at 600,000 tons per year. Estimated coal reserves and production rates <br />place the end of mining around the year 1997. <br />Auger Area E is located on the southern portion of previously mined Wadge West <br />pits. Auger mining of the final Wadge pit highwall occurred from October 1983 to <br />January 1985, again in March and April 1985, and in 1987. The highwall has been <br />retained as a portal faceup for future recovery of the Cow Camp underground <br />reserves. <br />Area strip mining techniques used at the mine include vegetation removal, topsoil <br />stripping, fragmentation and removal of overburden, fragmentation and removal of <br />coal, spoils grading, topsoil replacement and revegetation. <br />Vegetation removal is limited to large woody plants which would interfere with <br />topsoil removal. Trees and shrubs are brushed and backfilled in previously mined <br />pits or placed as brush pile habitat on final graded spoil slopes. Lower stands <br />of less woody vegetation are incorporated into topsoil, increasing organic matter <br />in the soils. <br />Topsoil salvage depths range from zero (in steep slope and rock outcrop areas) to <br />60 inches. Salvaged topsoil is removed by scraper and bulldozer equipment and <br />stockpiled. When conditions permit, topsoil is salvaged and immediately <br />redistributed on graded spoils. <br />Overburden is fragmented with explosives. Bulldozers prepare benches to allow for <br />drilling with a rotary drill. Drillholes are loaded with ANFO (ammonium nitrate - <br />fuel oil) or other approved blasting agents. Fragmented overburden is removed by <br />dragline and spoiled into the previous pit. <br />Coal is fragmented (primarily through the use of explosives) and removed from the <br />pit. Hydraulic shovels load haul trucks which transport raw coal from the pit <br />directly to the Hayden Station generation plant. Direct haul to the plant <br />precludes coal preparation at the mine site. <br />Cast over spoils are graded to approximate original contour, and salvaged topsoil <br />is redistributed. Topsoil replacement depth is approximately one foot. Areas of <br />topsoil redistribution are drill seeded the first fall planting season following <br />completion of topsoil spreading. <br />6- <br />