ABSTRACT
Richard Smith’s paper on the potential impacts of surface coal mining on trout populations in the Yampa River Basin presents an interesting approach for assessing the impact of coal mining on fishery resources. The models assembled by the author use a combination of sediment data for the Yampa River Basin and laboratory and field studies of suspended sediment and trout survival studies to predict trout population following the initiation of coal mining activities. They are an excellent first step for assessing the total impact of sedimentation that will result from the extensive coal mining proposed for the western states.
