Description: <DIV STYLE="text-align:Left;"><DIV><DIV><P><SPAN>This shapefile contains permit boundaries for all coal mines with active permits in Wyoming. The boundaries are current as of August 10, 2017. The shapefile was created by the Land Quality Division (LQD) of the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (WDEQ) from information provided by coal mining companies. These data are for display purposes only and do not represent survey grade information. Users are referred to individual mine permits for more detailed information. The WDEQ/LQD makes no warranties as to the validity, and assumes no liability associated with the use or misuse of this information. </SPAN></P><P><SPAN>Permit boundaries were obtained from the mines, usually in CAD drawing file format, and then converted to ESRI shapefile format. The exception to this process was the permit boundaries for the Grass Creek, Shoshone, and Izita mines, which were digitized using georeferenced scanned maps from the permit. LQD has also digitized additional areas at other mines to reflect the current extent of permit boundaries. </SPAN></P><P><SPAN>The accuracy of the permit boundaries was checked in several ways. First, the boundaries were visually compared against current maps in the permit and annual reports. Second, the boundaries were checked against the legal description information in Appendix C of the adjudication file for each permit. Finally, the boundaries were checked against the most recent Public Land Survey System (PLSS) information in the Geographic Coordinate Database (GCDB). The GCDB is published by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and is considered the authoritative source of PLSS data in GIS applications. The most recent GCDB data is available for download from the Wyoming BLM website at: http://www.blm.gov/wy/st/en/resources/public_room/gis/datagis/county/gcdb.html. The Wyoming county GCDB data used for checking the permit boundaries included: Carbon (current as of February 20, 2008), Sweetwater East (Current as of April 8, 2008), Sweetwater West (Current as of April 11, 2008), Lincoln (Current as of September 18, 2003), Hot Springs (Current as of January 25, 2010), Sheridan (Current as of February 20, 2008), Campbell (Current as of January 12, 2007), and Converse (Current as of May 10, 2004). Using the legal description information in Appendix C in the adjudication file of each permit, most of the permit boundaries were adjusted to match against the current county GCDB. In cases where the existing permit boundary matched very closely to the GCDB (generally within 10 feet), or the acres calculated in GIS matched the actual permit acres, the boundary was not adjusted. Boundaries were also not adjusted in cases where the legal description in Appendix C was not tabulated by PLSS. It should be noted that some users may notice that the permit boundaries do not match exactly with section lines depicted on different versions of the PLSS, such as USGS Digitial Raster Graphics (DRG) topographic maps or older versions of the GCDB. The GCDB data used for this evaluation was presumed to be the most up to date and accurate PLSS data available. However, it should be noted that the BLM cautions that the GCDB dataset has no legal significance and cannot be used as a substitute for a legal boundary survey. Further information on GCDB is available in the metadata for each Wyoming county dataset, available at the website listed above. </SPAN></P><P><SPAN>The scale of the boundaries used in this compilation varied by mine. LQD guidelines recommend map scales from 1 inch equal to 400 feet to 1 inch equal to 2,000 feet, depending on the purpose of the map. The most common scale used in this compilation was 1 inch equal to 500 feet used in coal mine annual reports, but some maps or submittals were at other scales. In cases where the permit boundary was supplied by the mining company via a CAD file, the scale was not provided. </SPAN></P><P><SPAN>Users should note that coal mine permit boundaries in Wyoming can frequently change due to incidental boundary revisions (IBRs), amendment areas, and bond release. The permit boundaries in this shapefile are considered current as of August 10, 2017. The most up to date information on permit boundaries and acreages can be obtained by checking Appendix C in the adjudication file of each mine permit.</SPAN></P></DIV></DIV></DIV>
Service Item Id: f38c053d9a3b4934bdcc031ddef66736
Copyright Text: Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, Land Quality Division, August 10, 2017.