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<br />"..., ~.j-I <br />t " ~.. ", . <br />. ., \, . <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Five other Inventoried [:oadless Areas are within the lInit. These, plus <br />the contiguous roanless areas, total 164,~6n acres of which 151,315 are <br />within the L1nit boundary. Thes"" areas \'fill be studied to determine <br />their wilderness quality and their suitability to be desir-nated as New <br />Wilderness Study Areas. <br /> <br />Grazing <br /> <br />Cattle grazing has occurred since 1880 and sheen use since about 1910. <br />r.attle use is restricted to the lower elevations, rarely using range <br />above 9,000 feet with one major exception being around Rabbit Ears Pass. <br />Sheep ranp'e has historically heen limited to larf,e aspen stands and <br />through the sub-alpine and alpine ranges. r.eductions in sheer use has <br />taken place in recent years or. much of the fragile alpine ranges. <br /> <br />Animal numbers have been adjusted downward to the present total of <br />12,570 sheep and 2,172 cows wi th young, uncleI' perr.1i t for a total of <br />25,924 sheep months and 5,384 cow months. These animals graze on the <br />National Forest for slightly nore than two months. <br /> <br />A?proximately $ln,000 in grazing fees are paid to the Federal government <br />annually. Gross income fro~ livestock produced on the National Forest <br />is around $810,000. <br /> <br />:!any of the old, well-established ranchs depend on National Forest lands <br />to round out their operation. <br /> <br />Fire <br /> <br />The vegetative mosaic that presently exists can be attributed to the <br />effects of, or lack of, wildfires. There is little evidence of signifi- <br />cant fire activity in this century, primarily because of man's actions <br />to suppress fires, however, prior to lqno, fires generally burned <br />naturally and created certain conditions as we know them to,lay. <br /> <br />At high elevations, in spruce timber types, there is little evidence of <br />past fires. Trees are 200 plus, years in agc, which indicates that <br />larr.e fires were very rare. At middle elevations, in lodgepole pine <br />types, the mosaic of areas of timber of various age grouns confirms past <br />fire influences. Some areas of "ine are over 200 years old, others are <br />100 years old and others vary between these extremes. These varying age <br />groups show the fire pattern dm-ing the eighteenth and nineteenth cen- <br />turies. Other patteTns of as~en an~ r.eadows are indications of past <br />fires. <br /> <br />National direction at this time ,-equires the il!ll1lediate suppression of <br />all wildfires. Recent emphasis On fire management, anditional research, <br />and acceptance of certain benefits from fire, has opened the door to <br /> <br />6 <br />