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<br />CHAPTER FOUR <br /> <br />Eliminating grazing in portions of North Willow <br />allotments and along Cochetopa Creek would improve <br />hydrologic conditions. <br /> <br />Continuing to manage 320 acres of public land in the <br />Wildcat Creek drainage as unavailable for livestock <br />grazing would help maintain and protect the water <br />quality of Crested Butte. <br /> <br />Vegetation treatments designed to increase ground <br />cover would result in improved hydrologic and soil <br />erosion conditions on these areas. <br /> <br />Impacts from Forest Management. Harvest of forest <br />products and associated road construction would <br />increase sediment production and soil compaction and <br />erosion. Limiting road construction and timber <br />harvests in riparian areas would maintain the existing <br />soil and hydrologic conditions within these zones. <br /> <br />Impacts from Recreation Management. Designating <br />5,171 more acres of public land as closed to OHV use <br />would reduce sediment yields and erosion rates. <br /> <br />Impacts from Rights-oC-Way Management. Excluding <br />rights-of-way development on 54,024 acres, and <br />designating 161,283 acres as avoidance areas would <br />help to minim;'e accelerated erosion and sediment <br />yields. <br /> <br />Impacts from Fire Management. Wildftres tend to <br />result in short-term increases in sediment production. <br />However, in areas where existing vegetation co~ditions <br />are poor for watershed protection, ftre can allow for <br />a natural vegetation type conversion that provides <br />additional watershed cover/protection. Typically, flte <br />suppression activities, such as fire lines, and the use <br />of suppression vehicles and heavy equipment could <br />decrease watershed productivity by removing or <br />damaging protective vegetation and increasing <br />sediment production. <br /> <br />CUMULATIVE IMPACTS ON SOIL AND WATER <br />RESOURCES <br /> <br />Hydrologic functions of riparian areas, water quality <br />and stream channel stability would be expected to <br />improve in the Long Gulch Demonstration Area, and <br />riparian areas. Future water quantity protection <br />would be provided on 113 miles of fisheries if <br /> <br />minimum stream flows are secured. Sediment and <br />erosion rates would be expected to decrease where <br />surface-disturbing activities, including OHV use, are <br />reduced, where basal vegetation cover is improved, <br />and where livestock grazing IGMCs are implemented. <br /> <br />IMPACTS ON RIPARIAN ZONES <br /> <br />IMPACTS FROM PROPOSED MANAGEMENT <br />ACTIONS <br /> <br />Impacts from Riparian Zones Management. Moving <br />existing watering areas and sources, and restricting <br />development of new water sources in riparian zones <br />would indirectly reduce vegetation utilization levels <br />and the effects of trampling. <br /> <br />Impacts Crom Locatable Minerals Management. <br />Existing and proposed withdrawals that segregate the <br />federal mineral estate from mineral entry and location <br />would protect about 117 miles of identified riparian <br />zones from potential vegetation loss and other <br />disturbances associated with mining locatable <br />minerals. About 33 of these miles are within areas <br />having a high likelihood for the potential for the <br />occurrence of locatable minerals. The remainder of <br />identified riparian zones, about 617 miles, would be <br />open to mineral entry and location, and if mining <br />were to occur, some loss of vegetation and other <br />mining-associated disturbances could occur. About 96 <br />of these miles are within areas with a high potential <br />for the occurrence of locatable minerals. Reclamation <br />requirements would limit these impacts to the short- <br />term. <br /> <br />Impacts Crom Saleable Minerals Management. <br />Damage and removal of the riparian vegetation type <br />as a result of surface disturbance associated with <br />mineral material disposal would be m;n;m;'ed by <br />mitigating measures that would limit disturbance to <br />the short-term. <br /> <br />Impacts Crom Soil and Water Resources <br />Management. Vegetation treatments designed to <br />reduce accelerated soil erosion would enhance <br />riparian areas by reducing the quantity and timing of <br />water and sediment delivery. Acquisition of water <br />rights, where appropriate, including instream flows, <br />would improve the overall condition of riparian areas <br /> <br />4-16 <br />