** Click on one of the three colored regions
on the map to the left to visit a specific
field office page within the
Mid-Continent Region **

Click Here To visit the Mid-Continent
Regional Headquarters page:

The Mid-Continent Region (MCR) of the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) was formed on May 1, 1995, to address the unique environment of America’s heartland.  The region covers 11 primacy states, stretching from the cornfields of Iowa and Illinois to the bayous of Louisiana to the arid lands of West Texas.  The MCR oversees mining and reclamation of a broad spectrum of coal types including: semi-anthracite in Arkansas, steeply bedded bituminous coal in Oklahoma, broad expanses of high rank bituminous coals in the upper Midwest and Alabama, lignite of east and central Texas and the lignite coals of the coastal plains in Mississippi and Louisiana.  Each of these coal types and their associated geological and landscape settings presents unique challenges to the miners and the regulators who work to achieve the vision of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA).  Much of the nation’s cropland and prime farmland is located in the MCR and must be protected for future generations.  The region’s surface and ground water resources are some of the largest.  Protecting their quality and quantity are critical for the Nation.

The MCR has oversight responsibilities for 42 percent (11 of 26) of all coal states and tribes.  The MCR Headquarters and the Alton Field Division are centrally located in Alton, Illinois (St. Louis, Missouri metro area).  Field locations include the Tulsa Field Office in Oklahoma; The Birmingham Field Office in Alabama; and the Indianapolis Area Office in Indiana. 

The MCR is responsible for ensuring that the State programs in Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas regulate surface coal mining operations and discharge their responsibilities in a manner that will minimize the impacts of surface and underground coal mining; and effectively reclaim mines abandoned prior to the passage of SMCRA.