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Borollic Camborthids soils covered [he disturbed area. They occur primarily on uplands and are formed in materials weathered in place from soft shale. These clayey soils are moderately deep to deep, well drainzd and usually contain less than 35 percent rock fragments. Permeability is slow, shrink-swell potential is high and potential frost action is moderate to high. These soils are used for rangeland. non-irrigated cropland, and irrigated hay and pastureland. Vegetation in the vicinity of the mine is characterized by four major communities: grassland, mountain shrub, big sagebrush, and cropland; and by two sub-types: aspen and mountain shrub-rock outcrop. Within the Foidel Creek Mine disturbed area, the prominent vegetation types prior to disturbance were big sagebrush and cropland (dryland small grains). Numerous wildlife species inhabit the general area. The most predominant are elk, mule deer and Columbian Sharptail grouse. Other wildlife species include: black bear, cougar, rabbit, coyote, bobcat, red fox, rodents, bats, skunks, waterfowl, amphibians and reptiles. Two golden eagle nests are located on sandstone cliffs adjacent to the disturbed area within the permit boundary. There is critical winter habitat for elk, an elk migration corridor and elk calving grounds and critical sage grouse habitat within and adjacent to the permit area. Sage grouse critical habitat is located outride of the disturbed area. Cultural and historic resources within the permit azea include three historic sites and one prehistoric or protohistoric site. Two of the historic sites are undistinguished homesteads with no important architectural features and which are not associated with persons important in history. The other historic site, the Foidel Canyon Schoolhouse, is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, and is located in the general area of the main facilities along Foidel Creek. It will not be undermined or subsided and is protected appropriately. The prehistoric site (SRT345) is a rock art site located on the outcrop of the Twentymile Sandstone directly north of the main mine facility area. Mining approved under PR-02 (Southwest Mining District) undermined and subsided SRT345. Stipulation No. 33 was attached to the PR-02 approval and Twentymile Coal Company took appropriate measures, as determined by the United States Bureau of Land Management (BLM), prior to undermining this site. Mitigation measures required by the BLM involved extensive research and documentation of this site. The site has since been destroyed by subsidence and subsequent rockfall. Pre-mining and post-mining land uses within the permit area are pastureland and rangeland. Some of the surface was previously disturbed by surface mining methods under Mine No. 1, Mine No. 2, and Eckman Park Mine (C-81-071) and Energy Mine No. 3 (C-84-062). Description of the Operation and Reclamation Plans The Foidel Creek Mine was originally permitted as an underground operation employing room and pillar mining on privately owned coal within a 924 acre permit area. TCC referred to the original permit as a pilot project designed to evaluate the technical and economic feasibility of underground mining operations on the Wadge coal seam, which was previously surface mined in the portal area and on dip slopes to the south and southwest by TCC's sister company, Colorado Yampa Coal Company (CYCC). Existing surface disturbance along Foidel Creek at the main mine facility area consists of portals, surface support facilities, an office, low-quality coal stockpiles, a processing waste pile, conveyors, a tipple and batch weigh loadout facility, a ROIvI coal stockpile, two rock dust tanks, a explosives magazine, a rail spur, and sediment control ditches and ponds. A large area of the main facility area was within a disrurbed area called the Area 2 pit within the CYCC permit No. C-81-071. Since the completion of mining associated with the No. C-81-071 permit, all pertinent facilities have been transferred to the Foidel Creek mine permit. The Life of Mine (LOIvt) permit revision (PR-01) application was approved in 1986 to expand the project into a 35-year mining operation utilizing both room and pillar and longwall techniques, with a peak production of C: U H B\C82056\RN03\RN03FI ND. doc