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equivalent plant community that would act as additional habitat for sage - grouse, mule <br />deer, and elk. <br />4) Avoidance of direct disturbance to all sage - grouse and Columbian sharp - tailed grouse <br />leks. <br />5) Potential revision of grazing management plans in the area that would benefit local <br />grouse. <br />The USFWS also recommends marking of all wire fences in areas of high grouse use in the <br />permit area to reduce grouse collisions with fences during flight. CCC will need to consult with <br />CPW regarding location and manner of marking fences. As a result of the USFWS <br />recommendation, Stipulation No. 15 is added to the permit as a result of PR-3: <br />STIPULATION 15: <br />IN ACCORDANCE WITH RECOMMENDATION BY USFWS, COLOWYO WILL NEED TO <br />MARK FENCING NEAR AREAS OF HIGH GROUSE USAGE WITH CONSULTATION <br />WITH COLORADO DIVISION OF PARKS AND WILDLIFE. <br />3.3 Description of the Operations and Reclamation Plans <br />3.3.1 Operations Plan <br />Detailed information on the Colowyo Operations Plan is found in Section 2.05.3 (Volume 1 for <br />the East Pit, West Pit, Section 16 Pit, Facilities Area and Gossard Loadout, Volume 12 for South <br />Taylor, and Volume 15 for Collom expansion) of the PAP. Performance standards associated <br />with mining operations are found in Section 4 (Volume 1 for the East Pit, West Pit, Section 16 <br />Pit, Facilities Area and Gossard Loadout, Volume 12 for South Taylor and Volume 15 for <br />Collom expansion) of the Permit and are summarized in Section B of this document. The <br />Colowyo Coal Mine is a strip mine. As proposed, the mine will consists of six pits (East Pit, <br />West Pit, Section 16 Pit, South Taylor Pit, Little Collom X, and Collom Lite) operating within <br />29,075.74 permitted acres. A seventh pit, the Section 11 pit, was joined with the East Pit. The <br />Section 11 pit has been backfilled, topsoiled and seeded. Mining operations have ceased in the <br />East Pit and only reclamation of the final cut remains. The majority of the East Pit and Section <br />16 Pit has been regraded, topsoiled and reseeded. Current mining operations are in the West Pit, <br />South Taylor Pit and future operations will include the Little Collom X Pit and Collom Lite Pit. <br />Mining operations began in 1976 with the East Pit, a multi -seam coal operation that continued to <br />move in a southerly direction. Eight coal seams (Y, X, A, B, C, D, E, F) were mined from the <br />East Pit, ranging in thickness from two to fifteen feet. The East Pit was nearly 6,000 feet in <br />length from east to west, 1,000 feet in breadth (highwall to highwall), and 450 feet deep. Due to <br />the number of coal seams, immense size of the pit, and manpower and equipment employed, pit <br />progression was slow, with additional disturbances of approximately 40 to 50 acres per year. <br />The East Pit reached a steady state where acreage disturbed approximately equaled acreage <br />Colowyo Coal Mine C1981 -019 PR -03 29 April 10, 2013 <br />