Surface Coal Mining in Wyoming: Needs for Research and Management

Abstract

Wyoming ranks second in the nation in strippable coal resources, with at least 18.9 billion tons of coal presently recoverable. Mining this coal could disturb about 590 square miles (0.6%) of the state's land area. The presence of this disturbed land offers a challenge to, and opportunity for, the varied fields of renewable resource research and management to practice their sciences and arts to allow the nation to use the coal without lasting detrimental effects on other resources.