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Coal Mining to which the permit , mine plan and adjacent <br /> • areas are not suited include cropland , forestry/timber , <br /> pastureland , industrial/commercial , and residential . <br /> Principal factors limiting the use of the <br /> area (s) for the above listed purposes are climate , topo- <br /> graphy and soils . <br /> Snowfall begins in October and continues <br /> through May in Coal Basin. Further , the snow is plentiful . <br /> Records during the most recent winter -- 1979-1980 -- show <br /> 231 inches of snow. Temperatures are cool . The average <br /> mean temperature recorded in 1978 , for instance , for the <br /> 0 <br /> months October through May , was 31 . 25 F . <br /> The terrain is steep . Gently sloping ground <br /> • is limited almost entirely to high glaciated bowls in the <br /> southern part of the Basin and a few landslide or slumpage <br /> areas . The remaining slopes range from 15% to 40% . <br /> The U. S . Soil Conservation Service has <br /> determined that soil associations of the Coal Basin fit the <br /> criteria for Classes VII and VIII (with a limited area , <br /> about 7% of the basin, suitable for Class VI designation) of <br /> the SCS Capability Classification System. Lands in Classes <br /> V-VIII are considered to be limited in use and generally not <br /> suited to cultivation. <br /> Cropland . Soil conditions , terrain, eleva- <br /> tion and climate preclude use of Coal Basin for cropland . <br /> Soils found in Coal Basin are typical of soils developed in <br /> 14 <br />