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{{#display_point: 37.643560,-88.206574|width=600|height=500|type=normal|zoom=1312}}

In December 2011, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) sought public comment on a possible swap of property with American Land Holdings of Illinois, a subsidiary of [[Peabody Energy]]. American Land Holdings approached the Shawnee National Forest wanting to exchange three properties it holds in Pope and Jackson Counties for a federal property parcel in Gallatin County, Illinois, for developing a coal strip -mining operation. The Gallatin federal parcel is 384 acres that adjoins the Saline River, two miles west of the Ohio River.<ref>[http://www.dailyregister.com/article/20120126/news/301269905 "Shawnee National Forest/Peabody Energy land swap received negatively"] The Harrisburg Register, Jan. 26, 2012.</ref>  ==Opposition==In January 2012, bat surveys found an Indiana bat maternity colony and gray bat foraging area on the tract that Peabody wanted to strip mine. The Indiana and gray bats are both endangered species under the Illinois Endangered Species Act. The Sierra Club and the Center for Biological Diversity urged the USFS to cease consideration of Peabody's land exchange proposal because it violated the Endangered Species Act's Conserve & Top Priority Duties. "Now that the site is known to be an occupied endangered species habitat," the organizations said, "the agency’s duty to “conserve” and give “top priority” to the protection and recovery of the Indiana and gray bats using the site forecloses the ability of the Forest Service to exchange the land so that it can be strip mined.<ref>[https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/bat_crisis_white-nose_syndrome/pdfs/Peabody-Land-Exchange-Scoping-Comment-Letter.pdf Peabody Land Exchange Scoping Comment Letter] Center for Biological Diversity, Jan. 30, 2012.</ref><ref>[https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/peabody-s-shawnee-proposal-stirs-controversy-over-bats/article_b6037b6c-4eaf-11e1-9486-0019bb30f31a.html "Peabody's Shawnee proposal stirs controversy over bats"] St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Feb. 5, 2012.</ref>

*'''GPS Coordinates:''' 37.643560, -88.206574 (approximate)