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human activity, etc.). The degree to which each species might be impacted will be <br />• dependent upon the species in question, their mobility and their seasonal habitat <br />requirements. <br />Reclamation <br />The reclamation plans for The Moffat and West Ridge areas call for returning <br />the area to rangeland, a situation that will benefit both domestic livestock and <br />wildlife. <br />The planned reclamation will result in final contours approximating those which <br />now exist. Revegetation plans are for The establishment of grasses, fortis, trees and <br />shrubs. The species selected will benefit both domestic livestock and wildlife as <br />forage and will furnish cover for wildlife. Species selected are shown in The <br />revegetation plan, Section 4.4.2. The patterns for revegetation will be to clump <br />shrubs and trees in patterns as shown on Exhibit 4.4-I. This pattern is designed to <br />take advantage of the microclimate resulting from The topographic diversity created <br />during final contouring. <br />It is expected that between the species used for revegetation, the cover <br />• furnished by the placing of the trees and shrubs in clumps or groves and <br />reestablishing the approximate premining topography all species will actually benefit <br />and poteniial{y increase following reclamation. <br />2.7.3.3 Fisheries <br />Studies hove been conducted in the Iasi seven years To determine what effect <br />coal mining has had on Trout Creek. Water quality was studied from 1973-1976 <br />(McWhorter et al., 1975, Skogerboe et al., 1979). These researchers found that such <br />parameters as total dissolved solids (TDS) and conductivity increased in Trout Creek <br />adjacent to and below the Edno Mine. Much of this seemed To come off The newer <br />mine spoils. However, studies conducted from 1975-1977 on the benthic inver- <br />tebrates found no discernable impact on the invertebrate community (Canton and <br />Ward 1978) except for a shift in community structure that seemed to relate more to <br />an environmental change in the character of Trout Creek rather than decreased <br />water quality (Canton and Ward 1980). It is possible that the presence of the mine <br />has affected this shift. Apparently the benthic invertebrates occurring near the mine <br />• are naturally more tolerant of the higher TDS found below the mine. Fish <br />2.7-66 <br />