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The permit area has had a history of surface and underground mining which resulted <br />in several areas of disturbance prior to the enactment of current reclamation <br />laws. In these areas, which include the No. 5 and SA Portal a:ceas, portions of <br />the coal processing waste pile area, the crusher site and the old shop and <br />temporary office, no topsoil was salvaged or stockpiled. Topsoil has been <br />salvaged and stockpiled from new disturbed areas since the enactment of the <br />Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Act of 1976. <br />Vegetation <br />The Eagle Mines permit area is located in the vicinity of the confluence of the <br />Yampa and Williams Fork Rivers. The vegetation communities located within the <br />permit boundaries vary from those associated with a riparian habitat to those <br />found in xeric rock outcrops. Cottonwood-willow communities dominate the riparian <br />habitat, while juniper or big sagebrush communities dominate the more xeric sites. <br />There is also a mountain shrub community within the Utah Tract, <br />The surface-disturbed area is characterized by big sagebrush and mountain shrub <br />communities on the uplands, croplands and previously mined lands. The croplands <br />are categorized into two types: 1) irrigated hayfields in the fertile river <br />bottom areas, and 2) dryland wheat, found on cleared hillsides which were once <br />sage-dominated. Several areas which were disturbed by former mining operations <br />are within the surface-disturbed area. <br />Wildlife <br />Diverse wildlife habitat is found within the permit area and is used extensively <br />by mule deer and elk. Predators known to be present include cougar, coyote, red <br />fox and bobcat. Small game and fur-bearing mammals include tY~e cottontail rabbit, <br />white-tailed jack rabbit, raccoon, beaver, muskrat, striped ek:unk and weasel. <br />Many species of birds are also found within the permit boundary. Of special <br />interest are various species of waterfowl, raptors (including the golden and bald <br />eagles),~the sandhill crane and the sage grouse. Fish speciee~ in the Williams <br />Fork River, within the disturbed area, include various euckereo and minnows, <br />mottled scuplin, rainbow trout and mountain whitefish. <br />Cultural and Historic Resources <br />There are 31 known cultural and historic resource sites within the permit area. <br />Land Use <br />Land uses within the proposed surface disturbed area are crop:Ld and rangeland/ <br />wildlife habitat. Mining has occuzred within the permit area since the 1930'x. <br />Much of the area has been previously disturbed by surface and./or underground <br />mining activities. The Eagle No. 5 Mine has been in existence since 1971. <br />Descrintion of the Operations and Reclamation Plan <br />The Eagle No. 5 Mine and Eagle No. 6 Mine are both undergroun3 mines employing <br />room-and-pillar and longwall mining methods to extract the coal resource. The <br />Eagle No. 5 Mine operates in the F seam, and the Eagle No. 6 :Mine operates in the <br />E seam. In the Eagle No. 5 Mine, Cyprus Empire Corporation uses conventional <br />underground techniques for development of mains, submains and longwall panel <br />entries. Room-and-pillar extraction techniques were used extensively in the past, <br />but current production mining utilizes longwa2l mining methods. The Eagle No. 6 <br />Mine also uses conventional mining techniques for development mining and longwall <br />methods within production panels. <br />The projected maximum annual tonnage for the Eagle No. 6 Mine is 4.0 million tons <br />during the life-of-mine plan. <br />