SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                             Washington, D.C. 20549

                                  SCHEDULE 14A


           Proxy Statement Pursuant to Section 14(a) of the Securities
                    Exchange Act of 1934 (Amendment No. ____)


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     Rule 14a-6(e)(2))
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                            WESTMORELAND COAL COMPANY
                            -------------------------
                (Name of Registrant as Specified In Its Charter)


   --------------------------------------------------------------------------
   (Name of Person(s) Filing Consent Statement, if other than the Registrant)

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                            WESTMORELAND COAL COMPANY

                                                                 August 16, 2000

Dear Westmoreland Preferred Shareholder:

Recently you have been contacted by a group of dissident  stockholders  who seek
to remove us as directors representing the preferred shareholders.  The nominees
proposed by this dissident group have been critical of your Company's management
and  Board  of  Directors  for  the  past  three  years.  During  Westmoreland's
bankruptcy  they wanted to liquidate  the Company,  but were  rebuffed  when the
Court  granted the Company's  motion to be dismissed  from Chapter 11. Last year
they launched a proxy fight by proposing  their own  candidates for the Board of
Directors,  again urging at least a partial  liquidation,  and were  rejected by
both common and preferred stockholders.

Now  they  are  at it  again,  claiming  that  we  do  not  represent  preferred
shareholders'  interests,  despite  the  fact  that  we were  re-elected  by the
preferred  stockholders in June,  receiving over 575,000 votes, about 75 percent
of those cast.  By  continuing  to demand  management's  attention,  they divert
energy from the implementation of the business plan set forth in the 1999 Annual
Report, which the Company sent you in April.

There  should be no doubt  about  our  strong  past and  present  commitment  to
preferred  shareholders.  For example,  in 1997 when we needed to file a plan of
reorganization during the bankruptcy, we proposed to give preferred shareholders
an 80 percent  ownership of the new entity in  recognition  of their  preference
rights! It's on the record. In 1998, during discussions surrounding our imminent
dismissal from bankruptcy, we proposed delivering $23 million in cash, plus debt
and equity securities, to preferred shareholders,  in exchange for all preferred
shares.  We believed our offer had a value in excess of $20 per depositary share
with potentially  significant upside, and our offer would have been available to
all preferred shareholders. That's also on the record, in a letter to the Equity
Committee  dated  October 12,  1998.  Led by one of the  dissidents,  the Equity
Committee  rejected  this offer and  demanded a $20 million cash tender offer at
$19 per  depositary  share;  this  offer  was  available  for less than half the
outstanding preferred shares. The Company accepted the Equity Committee's demand
and made the offer. When more shares were tendered than were permitted under the
agreement,  we  voluntarily  initiated a second offer for an additional  631,000
depositary shares at $19 each. That, too, is on the record.

Just so there can be no possible  misunderstanding  of what our  position is now
and has always been: WE BELIEVE WESTMORELAND SHOULD SATISFY THE UNPAID PREFERRED
STOCK DIVIDENDS AND RESUME THE DIVIDEND ON THE PREFERRED STOCK AS SOON AS IT CAN
LEGALLY  AND  SAFELY  DO SO  UNDER  DELAWARE  LAW  AND THE  COMPANY'S  FINANCIAL
COVENANTS.



At this time, the unavoidable fact is that the Company is prohibited by Delaware
law from paying any preferred stock dividends. The $27.8 million expended in the
two  tender  offers  and  the  ongoing  expense  for  post-retirement  benefits,
approximately  $22  million   annually,   have  reduced  the  Company's  current
stockholders' equity below the level required by law to pay preferred dividends.
However,  we have been  working  with the rest of the Board  and  management  to
rebuild shareholders' equity so that the Company can pay dividends.

We hope to do that by carrying out the Company's  strategic plan, which is being
implemented as you read this letter.  The Company intends to be opportunistic in
acquiring  niche  businesses  in  the  energy  sector  (coal,   gas,  and  power
production), where it can capitalize on the emerging market for increased levels
of low-cost  electrical power and a cleaner  environment.  Your Company has over
$200 million of tax loss  carryforwards  (NOLs).  We believe that the  Company's
acquisition  strategy,  together with the other components of its strategic plan
and the use of its NOLs, will increase  Westmoreland's  operating  profitability
and generate free cash flow for the payment of sustainable  dividends and permit
reinvestment in growth.

As part of its  strategic  plan,  the  Company is also  working  hard to recover
substantial  sums which we  believe  are owed to us by  various  third  parties,
including  Morrison-Knudsen  and Virginia Power.  The plan seeks to optimize the
value  of the  Company's  existing  core  operations,  but the  Company  is also
aggressively  pursuing the  possible  sale of certain  non-core  assets where we
believe favorable values can be captured.  On still another front,  Westmoreland
is actively supporting recent federal legislative  proposals to add prescription
drug benefits to Medicare.  Over one-half of the Company's retiree medical costs
are for prescription drugs, and since its responsibility for future benefits are
carried on the balance  sheet,  passage of this  legislation  would  improve the
Company's  shareholders'  equity  account,  which is calculated  under generally
accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and audited annually by KPMG LLP.

We know that some of you are  frustrated  and we wish that it were  possible  to
move faster. Your fears and concerns are reported to us directly and promptly by
management and your interests are discussed at every Board meeting.  We have had
the opportunity to speak to some of you personally.  However, others are telling
you to be wary of directors you elected to protect your preferred interests, but
who own few, if any, preferred shares themselves. Our interests are aligned with
yours.  So long as there are unpaid  preferred stock  dividends,  under Delaware
law,  no common  stock  dividend  can be paid and the  common  stock  price will
languish.  The fact that we have personally invested,  for ourselves and others,
millions of dollars in Westmoreland  provides us with additional  motivation and
focus to satisfy preferred  stockholders'  interests. As professional investors,
we  have  sat  on the  boards  of  other  public  companies  and  have  unlocked
shareholder  value in the past. We believe there is no better  approach to serve
your economic interests, or ours, than the course which we have helped chart.

We also believe that the execution of the Company's strategic plan will leverage
the value of its  knowledge,  ability,  and enviable tax position,  resulting in
sustained  profitability,  increasing  shareholders'  equity, and a rising stock
price.  Accumulated and regular  preferred stock dividends can then be satisfied
in a way that should not jeopardize the value or survival of the Company.  It is
our opinion  that  excellent  progress in the  implementation  of the  Company's
strategic plan is being made, and we will report to you on that progress as soon
as we are able.



DUE TO THE PROGRESS BEING MADE IMPLEMENTING THE STRATEGIC PLAN, WE ARE GENUINELY
HOPEFUL THAT THE PREFERRED DIVIDEND CAN BE REINSTATED SOON. Furthermore,  we are
proposing to the Board that the Company  dedicate the $6 million of cash,  which
is now held in escrow to secure the  Company's  compliance  with the  settlement
agreement that  facilitated  dismissal of the Company's  bankruptcy case, to the
payment  of  accumulated  preferred  dividends,  if those  dividends  are  still
unsatisfied  in the  spring of 2002.  We expect  that these  funds  will  become
available in the spring of 2002 if the Company  remains in  compliance  with the
financial covenants established under the settlement  agreement,  and we believe
that, if the Company is successful in  implementing  its strategic plan, it will
be able to remain in compliance with these  covenants.  No responsible  director
can promise you more than this.

We do not take the fiduciary responsibility entrusted to us lightly. Although it
is not our place to evaluate our own performance, we believe we are carrying out
our responsibilities in a prudent and ethical manner. We appreciate the time and
effort  you have  taken to read this  letter  and for your  continuing  support.
PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE TO CONTACT EITHER OF US PERSONALLY.


Sincerely,

Robert E. Killen               Telephone (610) 296-7222, ext. 32

James W. Sight                 Telephone (913) 362-9133


       STOCKHOLDERS SHOULD READ THE COMPANY'S CONSENT REVOCATION MATERIAL
              CAREFULLY WHEN IT BECOMES AVAILABLE BEFORE MAKING ANY
                                VOTING DECISIONS.

Certain  information  required  by the  Rules  of the  Securities  and  Exchange
Commission ("SEC")

Westmoreland  Coal Company (the  "Company")  and the following  Directors of the
Company may be deemed to be participants in the Company's  solicitation:  Thomas
J. Coffey,  Pemberton Hutchinson,  Robert E. Killen, William R. Klaus, Thomas W.
Ostrander,  Christopher K. Seglem, and James W. Sight. Employee participants may
include Paul W. Durham  (Assistant  General  Counsel and  Secretary),  Robert J.
Jaeger  (Senior Vice President of Finance and  Treasurer),  Diane S. Jones (Vice
President,  Corporate Business  Development & Corporate  Relations),  W. Michael
Lepchitz (Vice President and General Counsel, and President and General Counsel,
Westmoreland  Energy,  Inc.) and  Christopher K. Seglem  (Chairman of the Board,
President and Chief Executive Officer). The above named individuals collectively
beneficially own approximately  1,527,720 shares, or approximately 20.3%, of the
Company's outstanding common stock (excluding shares of common stock that may be
obtained  upon  conversion  of  the  Company's  depositary  shares  ("Depositary
Shares"),  each  representing  one-quarter of a share of the Company's  Series A
Convertible  Exchangeable  Preferred Stock).  Such individuals also collectively
beneficially own approximately 1,956 Depositary Shares, or approximately 0.2% of
the outstanding  Depositary  Shares,  which are convertible into 3,341 shares of
the  Company's  common stock.  Beneficial  ownership is determined in accordance
with rules of the SEC;  under these  rules,  a person is deemed to  beneficially
own,  among other things,  shares  subject to options  exercisable  currently or
within  60 days.  Additional  information  about  the  directors  and  executive
officers  is  included  in the  Company's  proxy  statement  for its 2000 Annual
Meeting  of  Stockholders,  filed  with the SEC on April 20,  2000,  and is also
included in a consent revocation  statement filed by the Company with the SEC in
response to the consent solicitation filed by the dissidents.

INVESTORS  ARE URGED TO READ THE CONSENT  REVOCATION  STATEMENT  WHEN IT BECOMES
AVAILABLE AND ANY OTHER RELEVANT  DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE SEC BECAUSE THEY WILL
CONTAIN  IMPORTANT  INFORMATION.  Investors will be able to obtain the documents
free of charge at the SEC's website (www.sec.gov).  In addition, documents filed
by the Company with the SEC will be available free of charge from the Company by
contacting  Diane S. Jones,  Vice President,  Corporate  Business  Development &
Corporate  Relations,  2 North Cascade  Ave.,  14th Floor,  Colorado  Springs CO
80903, 719-442-2600.