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Wildlife <br /> Canyon walls in the permit area provide potential raptor nesting sites, and peregrine falcon nexting has been <br /> documented in the permit area in recent years. The river is used by waterfowl during migration, wintering <br /> and nesting seasons. Western portions of the permit area provide winter range for mule deer, and overlap a <br /> portion of a federally designated wild horse management area. <br /> During winter months, bald eagles have been observed along the Colorado River through DeBeque Canyon. <br /> Three species of threatened or endangered fish may potentially inhabit the Colorado River in this area. These <br /> three fish species include Colorado pikeminnow, razorback sucker, and humpback chub. Riparian <br /> willow/tamarisk vegetion in the permit vicinity provides potential habitat for the endangered southwest willow <br /> flycatcher. <br /> Additional information on the wildlife in the area can be found in Tab I 1 of the permit application. <br /> Land Use <br /> Due to the long mining history of the area, and existence of the Cameo Power Plant adjacent to the North <br /> Portal mine facilities, current land use along the river and 1-70 corridor in the mine vicinity is industrial. <br /> Wildlife habitat is the primary use on adjacent dry uplands and tributary canyons. The post-mining land use <br /> for the permitted area is wildlife habitat. <br /> Descri tion of the Ooeration and Reclamation Plans <br /> The general description of mine operations can be found in Tab 12 of the application. <br /> According to permit projections, a total of 409 acres may be affected during the 1998-2002 permit term. In <br /> the period 1974- 1997,a total of 2,822 acres were affected in conjunction with underground mining activities. <br /> The area presently disturbed by surface facilities is approximately 332 acres. The only area currently <br /> planned for future disturbance is the remaining portion of Cameo Borrow Area No.2,approximately <br /> 4 acres. Subsoils from the borrow area would be used as non-toxic cover for the existing refuse areas. <br /> The operations plan has been amended to withdraw the previously proposed Cameo Refuse Area No. <br /> 3 (CRDA-3) from the permit,along with the associated proposal to relocate an additional segment of <br /> the Coal Creek channel in the vicinity of CRDA-3. <br /> If mining operations resume,room-and-pillar mining methods would be used in recovering the mineable coal <br /> reserves within the permit area. The maximum anticipated annual production from the permit area is 2.4 <br /> million tons of raw coal,and up to 1.4 million tons of cleaned coal. The coal seam to be mined is the Cameo <br /> "B" seam,which varies from four feet in thickness to a maximum of I I feet. Room-and-pillar panels will be <br /> typically developed using three to six entries. <br /> Major equipment at the mine will include continuous miners, shuttle cars, roof bolters, shearers, hydraulic <br /> shields,and belt conveyors. Rooms will be driven from submains a distance of approximately 440 feet from <br /> the centerline of the submains. The entries are 18 to 20 feet wide. Pillars will be developed on 100-foot by <br /> 100-foot centers for all mains and 60-foot by 100- foot centers for all submains. <br /> 16 <br />