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<br />'The BLM administers the land and its resources as a trust responsibil ity. <br />Following the passage of the Taylor Grazing Act in 1934, the Rock Springs <br />Grazing District was established in 1936 under the Division of Grazing <br />in the Department of Interior. The BLM is responsible for the manageme~t <br />of about 418,400 acres or 20.8 percent of the land in the Lower Gunnison <br />Basin Unit. <br /> <br />In 1964 Congress passed the Classification and Multiple Use Act, which <br />directed the BLM to classify and manage the National Resource Lands <br />retained in federal ownership for their multiple use values. Some of <br />these values are: grazing for domestic 1 ivestock; habitat for big game <br />and other wildlife; watershed protection; outdoor recreation; and <br />mineral leases, including gas and oil. <br /> <br />The National Resource Lands in the Lower Gunnison Basin Unit are iJsed <br />primarily for mineral exploration and domestic livestock grazing. <br />Mineral leases are issued after application; grazing 1 icenses are issued <br />on the basis of spring, fall, summer and winter use, depending on loca- <br />tion and type of range. <br /> <br />Resource development programs of the BLM are based on planning units. <br />Plan formulation of theSe units is termed Unit Resource Analysis, (URAl, <br />and is only the beginning phase of watershed and resource management, <br />Unit Resource Analyses are completed or in progress on most of the iand <br />in the Montrose and Grand Junction districts. More intensive planning <br />is called Allotment Management Planning and is following URA planning. <br />The program of Allotment Management Planning will be used to establ ish a <br />grazing management system for each grazing allotment or individual <br />ranch. The objective of an Allotment Management Plan is to develop a <br />grazing system which will obtain and sustain a stable soil and watershed <br />condition, and a dependable supply of forage in balance with other <br />multiple uses. The Allotment Management Plan will also provide continuity <br />to the range management program. <br /> <br />V. OBJECTIVES, SCOPE AND PRINCIPAL FEATURES OF STUDY <br /> <br />Broad Objectives of On-Farm Salinity Control Investigations <br /> <br />The overall objectives of the U.S. Department of Agriculture participa- <br />tion in salinity control studies in the Upper Colorado River Basin are <br />to determine: (1) the contribution of salt loading from the irrigated <br />and related privately owned upland watershed area; (2) the opportunity <br />for reducing salt loading through improving on-farm irrigation; and (3) <br />the possibility of reducing erosion and sediment delivery from irrigated <br />and upland areas. <br /> <br />003,86 <br /> <br />11 <br />