State environmentalists have rejected a permit for a planned strip coal mine that opponents say would have been near a west-central Illinois wildlife area.

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources turned back the request for the planned 600-acre surface mine in the Illinois River floodplain in Fulton County. The mine would have been near the village of Banner and the Rice Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area.

The Sierra Club had opposed the mine, arguing it would have put at risk nearby drinking water supplies, nesting osprey, a bald eagle roost and the habitat for the state-endangered short-eared owl.

The developers, Capital Resources Development Co., haven't returned a message seeking comment Tuesday.