ANCHORAGE, Alaska - A Canadian mining exploration company wants to drill for high-grade coal near a small Alaska community, a bid locals say could ultimately ruin habitat rich in moose, fish and other subsistence foods.

Full Metal Minerals has applied for a state exploration permit for the 21,000-acre area surrounding Chickaloon, about 60 miles northeast of Anchorage. The president of the Vancouver, British Columbia-based company said that any actual mining would largely be underground with little impact on the terrain, rivers or Chickaloon's 250 residents. Any work beyond exploration would need further government authority.

"First we want to poke a few holes to see if it's potentially economical," Michael Williams said. "If all the numbers make sense then we'll apply for environmental and construction permits. If there's a salmon stream going through, we'll not even go there."

Many residents don't believe their community can coexist with the venture, said Lisa Stevenson, who heads an opposition group called the Castle Mountain Coalition.

"It'll destroy the reason why all of us live here," Stevenson said. "It's beautiful here. It's quiet, it's clean. There are tons of subsistence resources right outside our doors. It really takes a huge investment to build a life here."

The Alaska Department of Natural Resources is holding a community meeting Wednesday night at which company representatives will discuss the proposed project. Public testimony will be taken at the meeting and through the comment period ending Monday.

Kodiak-based Afognak Native Corp., which is considering joining the endeavor, also will send representatives.

"We're still researching, evaluating what the options are out there," said corporation spokeswoman Sarah Lukin. "As part of this due diligence process, we're interested in hearing people's thoughts and concerns."

The company obtained the 33-acre site as the sole bidder in a lease sale offered by the state Mental Health Trust Authority. The trust oversees close to 1 million acres of land to help fund mental health services. In this case, the trust owns the mineral rights to the site, part of the state's 130,000-acre Matanuska Valley Moose Range.

When the trust decided to open its land within the range to coal development, Chickaloon residents voiced their outrage, all to no avail, according to Stevenson. She said residents have had little input in the project and officials with the trust and the company have visited the community only once, at the same time.

That's not the point, said Wendy Woolf, acting director of the trust's land office. The moose range's management plan allows coal mining.

"What we have to do is maximize revenue and reduce risk from the resources that we own," Woolf said. "We can either look at no revenue generated or we can look at our assets and see how they can generate revenues."

Full Metal Minerals is paying $4 an acre for its stake, plus the same rate for each additional year. The company also will pay the trust a 5 percent production royalty on any coal sold, used or disposed, under the agreement terms.

As much as 30 million tons of coal could lie below the surface of the lease site, according to Williams. That's not a large amount, but state officials say the coal is of the highest quality, making it suitable for steel refining.

Full Metal Minerals has a "rough idea" where it intends to drill six-inch diameter holes as much as 400 feet deep, Williams said. The targeted area closest to Chickaloon is a half mile from Stevenson's home, he said.

The company is asking to drill as many as 100 holes, but might stop at 30 if they don't look promising, Williams said. Pending approval, work could begin by spring, with the company ready to invest as much as $700,000 on initial exploration if the early findings warrant it.

Under its proposal, the company also would excavate rectangular test pits 15 feet long and 15 feet deep. Each pit would require additional approval, according to Bruce Buzby, the state's coal regulatory program manager.

Williams said the pits would be filled as soon as feasible and would leave little imprint in the landscape.

"It's just like drawing blood; boom, you take a little sample and then it's gone," he said. "You don't even know the needle was there."

Opponents don't believe it'll stop there, especially in a region mined decades ago for its high quality coal.

"The fact is they're opening the door to development and it'll be very hard to close it behind them," Stevenson said.

The state will have 60 days to decide on the proposal from the end of the Feb. 12 comment period, Buzby said.

"We're neither a proponent for the activity or an opponent," he said. "We're there to protect the health and safety of the public and to protect the environment. That's our primary duty."