Area 124 covers the country around Gillette in the central Powder River Basin—the heart of Wyoming's coal country. Elevations run from about 4,200 feet on the basin floor to 5,500 feet on the higher prairie ridges. The country is wide-open Powder River Basin: rolling sage and bunchgrass prairie, scattered ponderosa pine breaks where the coal-bearing seams have eroded out, irrigated hay along the Belle Fourche River and the bigger creek bottoms, and the immense surface coal mines (the Powder River Basin produces about 40% of U.S. coal) that define the regional economy. Pumpjacks, gas plants, and coal-mine infrastructure are part of the landscape. Despite all that, the wildlife adapts and thrives—the country still holds excellent pronghorn populations and decent mule deer in the breaks. BLM, state trust, and significant private ranch and energy holdings share the country. The HMA and Walk-In programs add access. I-90 and WY-59 frame the access. Gillette is the full-service supply hub—gas, hotels, real grocery, the kind of energy boomtown that has every chain restaurant on earth. Cell service is good throughout because the energy infrastructure demands it. Antelope rifle in October is the bread-and-butter; the basin holds strong pronghorn density. Mule deer in the breaks and pine ridges; whitetail in the river bottoms. Energy traffic is constant—share the road. Wind blows hard, every day.