Ted Turner is buying the old York Canyon coal mine property near his Vermejo Park Ranch in northern New Mexico and plans to get involved in the reclamation of the land, Turner's office in Montana has announced.

The mine ceased operations in June 2002 because of difficult geologic mining conditions, a spokesman for Pittsburg & Midway Coal Mining Co. said.

Turner, the cable television pioneer, has substantial ranching interests across the West, including buffalo herds in New Mexico.