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<br />CHAPTER 1 <br />~• INTRODUCTION <br />Background of Problem <br />Surface mining for coal in Colorado and the surrounding Rocky <br />Mountain area has been increasing in recent years. Most projections <br />indicate the area of land disturbed by surface mining for coal in this <br />area will continue to increase during the next decade and beyond <br />n (Panne and others, 1978). The United States contains about 25 percent <br />{~ of the world's identified coal resources. Coalfields in eight states - <br />Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, <br />and Arizona - underlie in excess of 40 million hectares and contain more <br />than 1.8 trillion metric tons of coal. Of Colorado's nearly 270,000 <br />square kilometers, 75,000 square kilometers or 28 percent of the land <br />• area is underlain by coal. Colorado is sixth among the states in <br />remaining coal tonnage. About six percent of its 12,700 million metric <br />tons are potentially mineable 6y surface methods (Averitt, 1975; Copeland <br />and Packer, 1972; ll. S. soil Conservation Service, 1977). <br />Public concern about the impacts of surface mining for coal <br />intensified during the environmental movement of the 1960's. As a <br />result of the intensified environmental concerns and related legislation <br />by Congress, a large amount of research on mined land reclamation has <br />been conducted over the past several years. The majority of this work <br />has been on eastern coal where most of the mining for coal in the United <br />States has taken place. Of the work that has been done on western <br />1 coal, most has been concerned with revegetation. Little work has been <br />• done in Colorado with physical, hydrologic, and erosional characteristics <br />1 <br />