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define the population of all pertinent soil surveys. The <br />objective was to estimate the size of the peatland resource so <br />that a comparison with the total land base could be made. <br />Computerized soil - survey data from the State Office of the <br />SCS was queried to identify peaty soils found within the state <br />and relate those to a particular soil survey. Because mapping <br />for the entire state is not yet completed, it was necessary to <br />use the surveys that have been completed as a sample of the <br />population of all surveys. The estimate is based on: 1) the <br />total area of peat found in the mapped areas; 2) the total area <br />of the mapped areas; 3) the area of MLRA's 48a, 48b, and 51 which <br />define the peat - producing region of the state; and, 4) the <br />proportion of un- mapped area within that region. It was assumed <br />that the area of peat found in the areas presently mapped is <br />representative of the portions of the area that are not yet <br />mapped. Figure 2 identifies the completed soil survey areas, and <br />un- mapped areas within the peat - producing region. <br />First, the peat - producing region of the state was identified <br />using the Major Land Resource Area (MLRA) classification system <br />developed by the SCS (1981). This system uses information about <br />land use, elevation and topography, climate, water, and soils in <br />the Land Resource Units (these are coextensive with state general <br />soil map units) to aggregate the units into homogeneous MLRA's. <br />MLRA's 48a, 48b, 49, and 51 identify the Southern Rocky <br />Mountain region in Colorado. Of those, MLRA's 48a, 48b, and 51 <br />(defined in section 2.1) are characteristic of what is herein <br />14 0 <br />