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townsite of Bowie to about 500 feet east of the old Bowie power plant. In addition, portions of the unit <br />train loadout complex are within 100 feet of the outside right-of-way of new State Highway 133. Finally, <br />a portion of the Hubbard Creek fan site is within 100 feet of the right-of-way of Hubbard Creek road. <br />The original Bowie No. 2 Mine permit application indicated that mining would be conducted using the <br />room and pillar mining method. Permit Revision No. 3 changed the mining method to longwall mining <br />but kept the rate of production at two million tons per year. Approval of Permit Revision No. 3 increased <br />maximum mine production to five million tons per year. Approval of Permit Revision No. 6 increased <br />coal production to 6 million tons per year. Approval of Permit Revision No. 7 permitted the construction <br />of portals and facilities to mine the B-2 coal seam. The five year B-2 coal seam mine plan was approved <br />through Permit Revision No. 8. Current mining is in the B-2 coal seam. Approval of PR-11 added 560 <br />acres to the northern boundary of the permit area, extended the B-seam mine plan to the north and <br />reoriented the longwall panels to a north-south orientation. Approval of PR12 would transfer a portion of <br />the Bowie No. 1 Mine permit area to the Bowie No. 2 permit area for a total increase of 2203 acres. <br />Detailed information regarding the Bowie No. 2 Mine and BRL is located in the ten binders which <br />comprise the Bowie No. 2 Mine permit application document. <br />Land Use and Cultural and Historic Resource Information - <br />Detailed information regarding land uses and cultural and historic resources within the Bowie No. 2 Mine <br />permit area is provided in Sections 2.04.3 and 2.04.4 of the permit application document. A brief <br />summary is provided below, and this summary is derived from the information presented within Sections <br />2.04.3 and 2.04.4 of the permit application document. <br />The Bowie No. 2 Mine permit and adjacent area includes a mix of land uses. The lower elevation areas <br />are used for pasture, orchards, residential and industrial uses. Approval of Permit Revision No. 6 added <br />hayland to the list of permit area land uses. Agricultural uses are served by irrigation water. The higher <br />elevations within and adjacent to the permit area support some rangeland use, and the areas offer <br />abundant wildlife habitat. The lands also support various recreational uses. <br />Historic and current mining operations also exist in the general area. The Bowie No. 1 Mine is located <br />west of the Bowie No. 2 Mine permit area. The Terror Creek Loadout is located to the south of the Bowie <br />No. 2 Mine permit area. The reclaimed Blue Ribbon Mine is also located nearby along Hubbard Creek, as <br />are outlying facilities associated with the Sanborn Creek Mine. Historic coal mines located within and <br />adjacent to the Bowie No. 2 permit boundary include the King Mine, the Gelwick Mine, the old Blue <br />Ribbon Mine and the Farmers' Mine. The old townsite of Bowie is located within the Bowie No. 2 permit <br />area. <br />There are no known historical sites that are eligible to the National Register in the areas to be affected <br />under Permit Revision No. 12. The CHS concurred with the determination by the BLM that the eight sites <br />and isolated finds associated with PR-12 were not eligible for the National Register of Historic Places and <br />BLM's finding that no historic properties would be affected by the activities proposed in PR-12. As <br />requested by the CHS, BRL has committed to stop construction and evaluate the situation appropriately, <br />in consultation with the CHS, if previously unknown cultural resources should be discovered. <br />Geology - <br />Detailed information regarding the geology in and adjacent to the Bowie No. 2 Mine permit area is <br />provided in Sections 2.04.5 and 2.04.6 of the permit application document. A brief summary is provided <br />15