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Powder River Basin

Ecoregion in WY

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The Powder River Basin ecoregion covers rolling prairie and dissected river breaks surrounding the Powder, Cheyenne, and upper North Platte rivers. The Powder River Basin has less precipitation and less available water than the neighboring Mesic Dissected Plains (43q). Mule deer, pronghorn antelope, and sage grouse share the plains with livestock. However, oil, gas, and coal deposits are scattered throughout the ecoregion, and mining is exerting a powerful influence on the character of the landscape. Roads and pipelines feed coalbed methane wells placed in grids 80 acres apart, and vast amounts of underground water reserves are pumped to the surface and wasted in coalbed methane drilling. The mining fuels conflicts over surface/subsurface property rights and water management in a semiarid region.

— EPA

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Ecoregion