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Agricultural production is concentrated on irrigated hayland and irrigated pasture. Irrigated <br />cropland, at a lesse, acieage than the previctis two uses, is generally devoted to the <br />production of alfalfa and corn silage. The reduced combibutionamount of cropland compared <br />to the overall acreage is a- resrift- allow, because other areas have difficult terrain, shallow soils, <br />and the need of a hay base for livestock. Livestock operations, both cattle and sheep, are <br />important in the area. The irrigated hayland and pasture resources provide hay base and <br />winter feeding areas for herds that are run on adjacent private, Bureau of Land Management <br />(BLM), and Forest Service (USFS) rangeland during the spring, summer, and fall months. In <br />years past, orchard production was important as evidenced by the number of abandoned <br />orchards remaining in the area. Irrigated haylands are primarily composed of alfalfa and <br />various complimentary grasses such as orchardgrass and smooth brome. Irrigated pastures <br />are composed of a myriad of species, both desirable and undesirable, due to irregular <br />irrigation water application, lack of periodic tillage and pasture renovation, low levels of <br />management, and overuse. Swale, bog, or riparian areas have developed in some areas as a <br />result of irrigation water runoff (irrigation tailwater). All of these areas have been classified in <br />the pre -mine land use tables as irrigated pastureland, since almost all of them receive runoff <br />from irrigated croplands or pastures but are not harvested or baled. Additionally, ground water <br />recharged from irrigation, discharges at a number of downslope areas as seeps and bogs. <br />These are very minor in area. There was no true dryland pasture in the pre -mine land use. All <br />dry areas that had vegetation were either some type of sagebrush dominated rangeland or <br />pinon juniper community. Minor sagebrush dominated native rangeland areas generally have <br />been included in pastures that have had intensive livestock use. This has resulted in an <br />overstory of woody species and an understory of undesirable annual and perennial weedy <br />species. The original pinyon - juniper overstory in these areas has essentially been removed. <br />With the continued availability of adequate irrigation water, irrigated pastureland, and cropland, <br />including irrigated alfalfa hay, corn silage, and various other crops will continue to dominate the <br />landscape around Nucla. <br />August 2013 (PR 08) 2.04.10 -10 <br />