On August 31, 2000, Triton Coal Company, LLC (Triton) filed an application with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for federal coal reserves in a tract located to the north and west of, and adjacent to, Tritons Buckskin Mine in Campbell County, Wyoming (figures ES-1 and ES-2). This coal lease application was assigned case number WYW151634, and is referred to as the West Hay Creek lease by application (LBA) tract. As applied for, the West Hay Creek LBA tract includes approximately 840 acres and an estimated 145 million tons of in-place federal coal reserves. The lands applied for in this application are located in northern Campbell County, Wyoming, approximately 12 miles north of the city of Gillette, Wyoming. This lease application was reviewed by the BLM, Wyoming State Office, Division of Mineral and Lands Authorization, and it was determined that the application and the lands involved met the requirements of the regulations governing coal leasing on application at Title 43 of the Code of Federal Regulations Part 3425.1 (43 CFR 3425.1).