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<br />for $1.500.00, The landowner is now considering placing a conservation easement on this playa
<br />lake and on an adjacent basin through the Natural Resources Conservation Service's Wetland
<br />Reserve Program. This step would provide protection to the site via either a 30 year or
<br />permanent easement. The Partners tor Wildlite program will continue to seek out similar playa
<br />lake restorations, For those landowners who have alternate livestock water supply or who are
<br />willing to consider an alternate supply,
<br />backJilling water concentration pits should be
<br />acceptable. Additional opportunities exist on
<br />the V,S, Forest Service's Comanche National
<br />Grasslands where many playa basins have also
<br />been damaged by water concentration pits,
<br />The Partners Program will continue to
<br />encourage the restoration of these playas.
<br />
<br />For those playas altered through cultivation a
<br />dilferent approach is needed. No change in
<br />the hydrology of the basin has occurred in
<br />most of these cases. Cessation of cultivation
<br />and re-seeding of native grasses is required tor
<br />restoration. There was one Partners for
<br />Wildlife project on a tonnerly cultivated playa. This playa is now enrolled in the Conservation
<br />Reserve Program (CRP). The basin had been planted to tall and mid grass prairie species. These
<br />arc native grasses but would not occur within a playa lake basin in southeastern Colorado, While
<br />the basin still held rainfall, the new grass cover was much taller and denser than natural grasses
<br />would be, It was not providing the same 'ceding opportunities tor shorebirds and watertowL it is
<br />providing signiJicant value tor many other grassland species however. To mimic some values of a
<br />natural playa without destroying the CRP values. a shallow (<2') serpentine scrape was cut
<br />through the playa (Figure 7). This scrape was not deep enough to puncture the clay seal of the
<br />basin, The project provides toraging habitat
<br />tor watertowl and shorebirds when flooded
<br />and the adjacent CRP continues to provide
<br />lood and cover for many resident and
<br />migratory species. The 24 Wildlife Extension
<br />Agreements signed in southeastern Colorado
<br />have resulted in 327 wetland acres. 554
<br />upland acres. and approximately 5 miles of
<br />riparian area under wildlite management
<br />agreements.
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<br />Figure 6: Playa Lake Restoration Las Animas
<br />County. Colorado
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<br />Figure 7: Modified Playa Lake Baca County.
<br />Colorado
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