Other coal basins

Coal basins in the 

Northern Rocky Mountains 

and Great Plains region

EXPLANATION

NE

ND

SD

CO

WY

NM

MT

Raton

Basin

Denver

Basin

North and Middle

Park Basins

Carbon

Basin

Hanna Basin

Wind River

Basin

Big Horn

Basin

Williston 

Basin

Bull Mountain

Basin

Coal basins

0 100 200 MILES

Greater Green 

River Basin

Northern Rocky 

Mountains 

and Great Plains 

region

EXPLANATION

Powder River

Basin

Figure 1. Major coal basins in the contiguous United States. (Modified from

Trumbull, 1960).

Figure 2. Map showing the location of coal basins in the Northern Rocky 

Mountains and Great Plains region.

Figure 3. Land-management status in the Northern Rocky Mountains and Great

Plains region and chart showing land management in percent.

Bureau of Land Management (BLM) 

National Park Service (NPS) 

National Forest Service (NFS) 

Other Federal Agencies (Other Federal) 

State and Private 

Tribal Lands (Tribal) 

EXPLANATION

MT

WY

ND

SD

NE

CO

NM

UT

ID

Printed on recycled paper

NPS

1%

Tribal

1%

State and 

Private

67%

NFS

14%

BLM

9%

Other

Federal

8%

Federally Owned Coal and Federal Lands in the

Northern Rocky Mountains and Great Plains Region

 Federally owned coal and coal from land that is federally managed, 

particularly from the Northern Rocky Mountains and Great Plains region, plays 

a major role in the energy supply of the United States. Federally owned coal is 

coal that is located in an area where the Federal Government has subsurface 

ownership of oil, gas, and coal; coal only; or all minerals. Federal coal may or 

may not underlie areas where the land surface above is managed by the Federal 

Government (see U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet FS-012-98). In 1997, 

about 1,100 million short tons of coal were produced from coal basins (fig. 1) 

in the United States. More than 30 percent of that year’s production (about 

330 million short tons) was produced from Federal lands. Most Federal coal 

production comes from coal basins in the Northern Rocky Mountains and 

Great Plains region (fig. 2 and table 1).

 The Northern Rocky Mountains and Great Plains region is an area that 

was defined by the National Coal Resource Assessment project of the U.S. 

Geological Survey (Fort Union Coal Assessment Team, 1999). The area 

consists of portions of the Northern Great Plains and Rocky Mountains coal 

provinces of Trumbull (1960) (fig. 1). The region consists of about 313 

million acres of land, of which about 32 percent is federally surfacemanaged (fig. 3), and about 80 percent contains federally owned coal (as 

defined previously). 

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

USGS Fact Sheet FS-011-00

March 2000
 Most of the 1997 Federal coal production was from the States of Wyoming 

and Montana (table 1). Coal from the Northern Rocky Mountains and Great 

Plains region is of particular interest for future development not only because 

of its great quantity, but also because it is low in total sulfur and ash yield 

(table 2) and is therefore generally compliant with emission standards for coal 

to be used in electric power plants.

 The assessment units and coal resource calculations in this report are 

modified from assessment units and data generated by the Fort Union 

Assessment Team (1999) for the 1999 National Coal Resource Assessment 

project. The priority coal assessment units are comprised of coal beds and coal 

splits that were combined into coal zones that were determined to have a high 

potential for development in the next 20 to 30 years (table 3). The stratigraphic correlation of coal beds and zones in each of the priority coal 

assessment units is given in Flores and others (1999). The boundaries in 

which the coal resources were calculated were limited to project-defined study 

areas determined by the availability of reliable data and the mapped extent of 

the coal being assessed (fig. 4).

 The assessed coal in this region represents a huge potential source for coal 

development in the future. A total of about 660,000 million short tons were 

calculated for assessed coal in the region. Of this total, about 520,000 million 

short tons of coal are federally owned. The production of Federal coal 

generates more than a quarter billion dollars in royalties annually, about half 

of which is disbursed to the States in which the coal was produced (U.S. 

Department of the Interior, 1996). More than 70 percent of the State royalties 

in 1996 (about $75,000,000 in royalties) were disbursed to the States of 

Wyoming, Montana, and North Dakota. Additionally, many of the coal-bearing 

areas of the region occur in federally managed land that is administered by the 

Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Land Management (fig. 3). These 

agencies determine what areas can be leased for coal development. Knowing 

where the Federal coal is located, how much Federal coal exists, and the 

geologic setting of the coal helps land managers, planners, and mineral 

developers to make informed land-use decisions.

 This report includes information on 9 priority coal assessment units within 

the Powder River, Williston, Greater Green River, Hanna, and Carbon Basins. 

Federal and non-Federal surface and coal ownership was determined for the 

area of each of the study areas, and coal resources were calculated for each of 

the ownership categories.

 Coal resources were calculated using the net coal thickness of each 

assessment unit. The net coal thickness is the sum of the thickness of each of 

the coal beds in the unit that were greater than 2.5 ft thick at a given location. 

The net-thickness values were used to calculate a grid containing coalthickness values that were evenly spaced throughout each study area. These 

values, in conjunction with the area of the study, were used to calculate the 

volume of the coal in acre-feet. To determine the tonnage of coal, the volume 

was multiplied by a conversion factor of 1,770 short tons of subbituminous 

coal per acre-foot or 1,750 short tons of lignite per acre-foot. The coal 

resource tonnages do not include coal in parts of the study area that contained 

an extrapolated coal thickness of less than 2.5 ft, clinker, coal mines, or lease 

areas. Federal surface management and Federal coal ownership for each of the 

assessment units, as well as coal-resource calculations and percentages for 

different ownership categories, are shown in figure 4. The Federal land and 

coal status, combined with other information from the assessment, can provide 

essential information for those making management decisions concerning 

specific plots of land in the region.

Table 1. 1997 Federal coal production from States in the 

Northern Rocky Mountains and Great Plains region.

[Results given in millions of short tons (1 short ton = 2,000 pounds). Data 

shown to two significant figures. Modified from U.S. Department of Energy 

(1998, p. 21). Federal coal production figures from Colorado, New Mexico, 

and Utah are not included in this table although portions of these States are 

in the Northern Rocky Mountains and Great Plains region. Production from 

those States is reported in the Colorado Plateau region Fact Sheet (U.S. 

Geological Survey Fact Sheet FS-145-99, 1999)]

State 1997 coal production

(millions of short tons)

Wyoming

Montana

North Dakota

TOTAL Federal coal from region

250

25

3.0

280

[Coal quality values for assessment units in the Powder River Basin include

only the Wyodak-Anderson coal. Modified from Stricker and Ellis (1999a,

1999b, 1999c, and 1999d)]

Table 2. Average percent sulfur content and ash yield for

coal included in this study.

Coal basin containing

priority coal assessment units

Average total sulfur

(percent)

Average ash yield

(percent)

Powder River Basin

Williston Basin

Greater Green River Basin

Hanna and Carbon Basins

0.48

0.84

0.56

0.96

6.44

7.96

11.18

12.48

Wyodak-Anderson Anderson, Dietz, Canyon, Monarch, Werner

Wyodak, Smith, Swartz, Sussex, School, and

Badger

Knobloch Knobloch

Rosebud-Robinson Rosebud, McKay, and Robinson

Harmon-Hansen

Beulah Zap-Hagel

Harmon and Hansen

Beulah-Zap and Hagel

Deadman

Ferris

Hanna

Johnson-107

Deadman 1-5 and A-C

Ferris 23, 25, 31, 50, and 65

Hanna 77, 78, 79, and 81

Johnson, Finch, C106, and C107

Powder River Basin, Wyoming

Powder River Basin, Montana

Williston Basin, North Dakota

Greater Green River Basin, Wyoming

Priority coal

assessment unit

Coal beds in

assessment unit

[Coal splits of the indicated coal beds are also included in the

assessment unit]

Table 3. Coal beds included in the priority coal assessment

units for this study.

Federal Coal Resources
ng the priority coal assessment unit study areas within Tertiary coal basins and maps showing Federal coal and surface ownership.

MST, millions of short tons

Ownership

Federal Non-Federal

Harmon-Hansen 

coal assessment unit

Percent land surface managedby the Federal Government: 8%

Percent of study area underlain by federally owned coal: 36%Federal coal tonnage: 25,000 MST Percent of total coal tonnagethat is federally owned: 37%

4

Wyoming

0 4 MILES

Surface and coal ownership

41°30'

41°52'30"

108°52'30" 108°45' 108°37'30"

41°45'

41°37'30"

Deadman

coal assessment unit

Percent land surface managedby the Federal Government: 51%

Percent of study area underlain by federally owned coal: 47%Federal coal tonnage: 1,200 MSTPercent of total coal tonnagethat is federally owned: 46%

9

0 4 MILES

Surface ownership

Wyoming

41°52'30"

106°52'30" 106°45' 106°37'30"

42°

41°52'30"

Coal ownership

Wyoming

0 4 MILES

106°52'30" 106°45' 106°37'30"

42° Ferris

coal assessment unit

Percent land surface managedby the Federal Government: 38%

Percent of study area underlain by federally owned coal: 33%Federal coal tonnage: 640 MST Percent of total coal tonnagethat is federally owned: 38%

6

Coal ownership

106°30'

42°

41°52'30" Wyoming

0 3 MILES

Surface ownership

106°30'

42°

41°52'30" Wyoming

0 3 MILES

Hanna

coal assessment unit

Percent land surface managedby the Federal Government: 25%

Percent of study area underlain by federally owned coal: 28%Federal coal tonnage: 1,500 MSTPercent of total coal tonnagethat is federally owned: 35%

7

Surface ownership

106°22'30"

41°45'

41°52'30"

Wyoming

0 3 MILES

Coal ownership

106°22'30"

41°45'

41°52'30"

Wyoming

0 3 MILES Johnson-107

coal assessment unit

Percent land surface managedby the Federal Government: 18%

Percent of study area underlain by federally owned coal: 22%Federal coal tonnage: 210 MST Percent of total coal tonnagethat is federally owned: 19%

8

103° 102°

Surface ownership Coal ownership

North Dakota

0 30 MILES

North Dakota

0 30 MILES

46°

104° 103° 102°

47°

Surface ownership

10 MILES

ana

06°30' 106°15' 106°

Coal ownership

45°15'

Montana

106°45' 106°30' 106°15' 106°

45°30'

0 10 MILES Knobloch 

coal assessment unit

Percent land surface managedby the Federal Government: 14%

Percent of study area underlain by federally owned coal: 65%Federal coal tonnage: 3,400 MST 

Percent of total coal tonnagethat is federally owned: 57%

2

Beulah Zap-Hagel

coal assessment unit

Percent land surface managedby the Federal Government: 0%

Percent of study area underlain by federally owned coal: 22%Federal coal tonnage: 2,200 MST Percent of total coal tonnagethat is federally owned: 24%

5

Surface ownership

0 10 MILES

07° 106°45' 106°30'

Coal ownership

Montana

45°45'

107°15' 107° 106°45' 106°30'

46° 0 10 MILES

Rosebud-Robinson

coal assessment unit

Percent land surface managedby the Federal Government: 2.7%

Percent of study area underlain by federally owned coal: 38%Federal coal tonnage: 5,000 MST Percent of total coal tonnagethat is federally owned: 39%

3

North Dakota

0 10 5 MILES

North Dakota

Coal ownership

0 10 5 MILES

urface ownership

47°30'

101°30' 101° 101°30' 101°
 Table 4 shows a summary of statistics concerning Federal land and 

federally owned coal for each of the priority assessment units, within the 

defined study areas. Federally owned coal tonnage was calculated for the first 

time as part of this study. Within the study areas, land that is federally 

administered ranges from 0 to 51 percent; land underlain by Federal coal 

ranges from 22 to 87 percent; and federally owned coal tonnage for the 

assessed units ranges from 19 to 87 percent.

 The coal assessment report for the Northern Rocky Mountains and Great 

Plains region (Fort Union Coal Assessment Team, 1999) includes additional 

information on surface and mineral ownership, coal resource tonnages, coal 

quality, net coal thickness, overburden, and the geology and structure of rocks 

in and around each study area. A detailed description of the coal resources for 

each of the assessment units is given in Ellis and others (1999a, 1999b, 1999c, 

1999d, and 1999e) and Roberts and others (1999a and 1999b).

 About 80 percent, 520,000 million short tons of the total 660,000 million 

short tons, of the coal from priority assessment units in the region is federally 

owned (fig. 5). About 15 percent of coal in the assessment units occurs beneath 

federally managed land surface; the rest of the coal occurs beneath State, 

Tribal, or privately owned land.

 The federally owned coal deposits in this region currently play an important 

role in supplying energy to the Nation. About 25 percent (about 280 million 

short tons) of the national total of coal produced in 1997 (about 1,100 million 

short tons) was developed from Federal coal in the Northern Rocky Mountains 

and Great Plains region. Even with cultural and mining restrictions that limit 

the amount of coal that can actually be developed, the total of 660,000 million 

short tons of Federal coal, just for these 9 priority assessment units, represents 

a very large source of coal for development in the future. United States coal 

resources continue to be evaluated, and there is sustained interest in the 

development of federally owned coal resources and in the potential of new 

leasing of federally managed land in the Northern Rocky Mountains and Great 

Plains region. Detailed information on Federal surface and coal ownership, and 

other data included in this and other reports, will assist policy makers and 

planners in making crucial decisions concerning the multiple use of Federal 

lands and the scope of future Federal coal development.

Figure 5. Percentages of Federal and non-Federal assessed coal in the Northern Rocky Mountain and Great Plains 

region.

Table 4. Statistics on Federal land, coal ownership, and coal resources in study areas for the

coal assessment units in the Northern Rocky Mountains and Great Plains region.

PRIORITY ASSESSMENT UNITS FEDERAL LAND AREA FEDERAL COAL AREA FEDERAL COAL PERCENTAGE FEDERAL COAL TONNAGE

(Percent of the surface

administered by the

Federal Government)

(Percent of the surface

underlain by Federally

owned coal)

(Percent of coal the

tonnage that is

Federally owned)

(In millions of short tons

rounded to two

significant figures)

Wyodak-Anderson 13 87 87 480,000

Knobloch 14 65 57 3,400

Rosebud-Robinson 2.7 38 39 5,000

Harmon-Hansen 8 36 37 25,000

Beulah Zap-Hagel 0 22 24 2,200

Ferris 38 33 38 640

Hanna 25 28 35 1,500

Johnson-107 18 22 19 210

Deadman 51 47 46 1,200

Surface Total* Percent of total tonnage

Federal 98,000 15%

Non-Federal 560,000 85%

Grand total 660,000

Coal Total* Percent of total tonnage

Federal 520,000 80%

Non-Federal 130,000 20%

Grand total 660,000

*Coal resources are reported in millions of short tons and with two significant figures. Totals will 

 not sum because of independent rounding of the coal resources in each category.

0

100,000

200,000

300,000

400,000

500,000

600,000

Federal Non-Federal

Millions of short tons

Surface Management

Millions of short tons

Federal Non-Federal

Coal Ownership

Northern Rocky Mountains and Great Plains Region 

Assessment Units

0

100,000

200,000

300,000

400,000

500,000

600,000
References Cited

Ellis, M.S., Gunther, G.L., Flores, R.M., Ochs, A.M., Stricker, G.D., Roberts, 

S.B., Taber, T.T., Bader, L.R., and Schuenemeyer, J.H, 1999a, Preliminary 

report on coal resources of the Wyodak-Anderson coal zone, Powder River 

Basin, Wyoming and Montana: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 

98-789-a [available at http://greenwood.cr.usgs. gov/pub/open-filereports/ofr-098-0789a/].

Ellis, M.S., Gunther, G.L., Flores, R.M., Ochs, A.M., Roberts, S.B., Wilde, 

E.M., Schuenemeyer, J.H., Power, H.C., Stricker, G.D., and Blake, Dorsey, 

1999b, Coal resources, Powder River Basin, chap. PN in Fort Union Coal 

Assessment Team, 1999 Resource Assessment of Selected Tertiary Coal 

Beds and Zones in the Northern Rocky Mountains and Great Plains Region: 

U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1625-A, CD-ROM disc 1.

Ellis, M.S., Gunther, G.L., Ochs, A.M., Keighin, C.W., Gowen, G.E., 

Schuenemeyer, J.H., Power, H.C., Stricker, G.D., and Blake, Dorsey, 1999c, 

Coal resources, Williston Basin, chap. WN in Fort Union Coal Assessment 

Team, 1999 Resource Assessment of Selected Tertiary Coal Beds and Zones 

in the Northern Rocky Mountains and Great Plains Region: U.S. Geological 

Survey Professional Paper 1625-A, CD-ROM disc 1.

Ellis, M.S., Gunther, G.L., Ochs, A.M., Cavaroc, V.V., Jr., Schuenemeyer, J.H., 

Power, H.C., Stricker, G.D., and Blake, Dorsey, 1999d, Coal resources, 

Greater Green River Basin, chap. GN in Fort Union Coal Assessment Team, 

1999 Resource Assessment of Selected Tertiary Coal Beds and Zones in the 

Northern Rocky Mountains and Great Plains Region: U.S. Geological 

Survey Professional Paper 1625-A, CD-ROM disc 1.

Ellis, M.S., Gunther, G.L., Ochs, A.M., Schuenemeyer, J.H., Power, H.C., 

Stricker, G.D., and Blake, Dorsey, 1999e, Coal resources, Hanna and Carbon 

Basins, chap. HN in Fort Union Coal Assessment Team, 1999 Resource 

Assessment of Selected Tertiary Coal Beds and Zones in the Northern Rocky 

Mountains and Great Plains Region: U.S. Geological Survey Professional 

Paper 1625-A, CD-ROM disc 1.

Flores, R.M., Ochs, A.M., Stricker, G.D., Roberts, S.B., Ellis, M.S., Keighin, 

C.W., Murphy, E.C., Cavaroc, V.V., Jr., Johnson, R.C., and Wilde, E.M., 

1999, National coal resource assessment non-proprietary data: Location, 

stratigraphy, and coal quality of selected Tertiary coals in the Northern 

Rocky Mountains and Great Plains region: U.S. Geological Survey OpenFile Report 99-376, CD-ROM.

Fort Union Coal Assessment Team, 1999, 1999 resource assessment of selected 

Tertiary coal beds and zones in the Northern Rocky Mountains and Great 

Plains region: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1625-A, CD-ROM 

discs 1 and 2.

Roberts, S.B., Wilde, E.M., Rossi, G.S., Blake, Dorsey, Ellis, M.S., Stricker, 

G.D., Ochs, A.M., Gunther, G.L., Schuenemeyer, J.H., and Power, H.C., 

1999a, Ashland coalfield, Powder River Basin, Montana: Geology, coal 

 quality, and coal resources, chap. PA in Fort Union Coal Assessment Team, 

1999 Resource Assessment of Selected Tertiary Coal Beds and Zones in the 

Northern Rocky Mountains and Great Plains Region: U.S. Geological Survey 

Professional Paper 1625-A, CD-ROM disc 1.

Roberts, S.B., Wilde, E.M., Rossi, G.S., Blake, Dorsey, Bader, L.R., Ellis, M.S., 

Stricker, G.D., Gunther, G.L., Ochs, A.M., Schuenemeyer, J.H., and Power, 

H.C., 1999b, Colstrip coalfield, Powder River Basin, Montana: Geology, coal 

quality, and coal resources, chap. PC in Fort Union Coal Assessment Team, 

1999 Resource Assessment of Selected Tertiary Coal Beds and Zones in the 

Northern Rocky Mountains and Great Plains Region: U.S. Geological Survey 

Professional Paper 1625-A, CD-ROM disc 1.

Stricker, G.D., and Ellis, M.S., 1999a, Coal quality and geochemistry, Powder 

River Basin, Wyoming and Montana, chap. PQ in Fort Union Coal 

Assessment Team, 1999 Resource Assessment of Selected Tertiary Coal Beds 

and Zones in the Northern Rocky Mountains and Great Plains Region: U.S. 

Geological Survey Professional Paper 1625-A, CD-ROM disc 1.

Stricker, G.D., and Ellis, M.S., 1999b, Coal quality and geochemistry, Williston 

Basin, North Dakota, chap. WQ in Fort Union Coal Assessment Team, 1999 

Resource Assessment of Selected Tertiary Coal Beds and Zones in the 

Northern Rocky Mountains and Great Plains Region: U.S. Geological Survey 

Professional Paper 1625-A, CD-ROM disc 1.

Stricker, G.D., and Ellis, M.S., 1999c, Coal quality and geochemistry, Greater 

Green River Basin, Wyoming, chap. GQ in Fort Union Coal Assessment 

Team, 1999 Resource Assessment of Selected Tertiary Coal Beds and Zones 

in the Northern Rocky Mountains and Great Plains Region: U.S. Geological 

Survey Professional Paper 1625-A, CD-ROM disc 1.

Stricker, G.D., and Ellis, M.S., 1999d, Coal quality and geochemistry, Hanna 

Basin, Wyoming, chap. HQ in Fort Union Coal Assessment Team, 1999 

Resource Assessment of Selected Tertiary Coal Beds and Zones in the 

Northern Rocky Mountains and Great Plains Region: U.S. Geological Survey 

Professional Paper 1625-A, CD-ROM disc 1.

Trumbull, J.V.A., 1960, Coal fields of the United States, exclusive of Alaska: 

U.S. Geological Survey Map, sheet 1, scale 1:500,000.

U.S. Department of the Interior, Minerals Management Service, 1996, Royalty 

Management Program, "Federal mineral disbursements by State and 

county—Fiscal year 1996."

U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration, 1998, Coal 

Industry Annual, 1997: DOE/EIA-0584 (97), p. 21.

U.S. Geological Survey, 1998, Federal coal in the United States—A digital 

database of coal ownership status: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet FS-012-

98, 6 p. 

U.S. Geological Survey, 1999 Federally owned coal and Federal lands in the 

Colorado Plateau region: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet FS-145-99, 4 p. 

[available at http://greenwood.cr.usgs.gov/pub/fact-sheets/fs-0145-99/].

For further information on Federal coal resources, contact:

Carol L. Molnia clmolnia@usgs.gov (303) 236-7769

Margaret S. Ellis mellis@usgs.gov (303) 236-7775

Laura N.R. Roberts lroberts@usgs.gov (303) 236-7777

Laura H. Biewick lbiewick@usgs.gov (303) 236-7773

(USGS, This Region)

(USGS, Colorado Plateau Region)

(USGS, U.S. Federal Surface Management)

(USGS, Project Leader)

For information on the geology of the priority assessment 

units, contact:

Romeo M. Flores rflores@usgs.gov (303) 236-7774

(USGS, Project Leader)

Margaret S. Ellis mellis@usgs.gov (303) 236-7775

(USGS, Coal Resources)

Stephen B. Roberts sroberts@usgs.gov (303) 236-7788

(USGS, Montana)

Gary D. Stricker (303) 236-7763

(USGS, Geochemistry)

Allan M. Ochs alochs@usgs.gov (303) 236-0104

(Consultant, Data Management)

U.S. Geological Survey, P.O. Box 25046,

Denver Federal Center, MS 939, Denver, CO 80225

Information about the National Coal Assessment can be found at:

http://energy.cr.usgs.gov/coal/index.html

This fact sheet can be viewed on the Web at:

http://greenwood.cr.usgs.gov/pub/fact-sheets/fs-011-00/