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Axial Basin Coordinated Resource <br />Management Plan <br />IS Craig District <br />Little Snake Resource Area <br />August, 1994 <br />n <br />Setting and scope Axial Basin is located approximately 25 miles southwest of Craig, Colorado. The <br />watersheds cover approximately 105,000 acres that drains north into the Yampa <br />River. <br />The effort was developed for the Lower Boxelder and Lower Maudlin grazing <br />allotments. Vegetation in the basin is dominated by a sagebrush-grass plant <br />community with scattered islands of salt desert shrub communities. Some stands <br />of sagebrush are decadent and are causing depression of herbaceous plant <br />production and diminishing watershed stability. An estimated 800-1,000 acres of <br />the allotments have been reseeded to crested wheatgrass. Big sagebrush <br />encroachment on these areas has been significant. Riparian areas are found along <br />Morgan and Lower Boxelder gulches. Both drainages contain perennial waters in <br />normal precipitation years. Vegetation along these two drainages is dominated <br />by an overstory of Basin big sagebrush and some greasewood with a sparse grass <br />understory. Heavy infestations of white top are found along drainages and <br />scattered throughout the upland range sites. The area is grazed by sheep, cattle, <br />deer, elk, and antelope. Sheep have traditionally used the area in the winter and <br />spring and cattle in the spring, early summer and fall. Much of the area of the <br />• allotments is classified as severe winter range for deer. <br />Issues/problems being The Lower Boxelder Allotment located in Axial Basin was identified in the Little <br />addressed Snake Resource Management Plan (RMP) as a conflict area between wildlife <br />(primarily deer and elk) and livestock. Existing forage resources were not able to <br />meet the demand of wildlife and livestock grazing. The Axial Basin Coordinated <br />Resource Management Plan has been developed in an effort to resolve the <br />identified conflict and to provide a management system for three landowners on <br />Lower Boxelder and Lower Maudlin allotments. The objectives of the effort are to <br />improve the natural resource base and bring wildlife and livestock grazing <br />demands in balance with forage. <br />Participants The coordinated Resource Management Technical Review Team consists of the <br />grazing permittees, SCS, CSU County Extension Director, CROW, CSU State <br />Extension Range Specialist, BLM, Craig BLM District Grazing Advisory Board, <br />and Axial Basin Ranch CO. <br />Sources of technical input Sources of technical input are the same contacts listed under participants. <br />Brief history and present The Axial Basin plan took approximately two years to complete (dated October <br />status 1992). Within a year and one-half, we have: constructed 30 reservoirs; <br />• constructed approximately five miles of fence; implemented two years of <br />rotation-deferred grazing system; reseeded approximately 500 acres of 750-760 <br />acres of cropland to grass for supplemental forage; had three years of special <br />distribution hunts in Axial Basin; finalized a "contingency plan" to remove sheep <br />from areas classified as severe winter range on the allotments in severe winters; <br />and accelerated a three to four year old weed control effort in the Axial Basin.