2016-01-07_PERMIT FILE - C2010089A (9)

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Postmining Land Use Introduction This section addresses the requirements of Sections 2.05.5 Postmining Land Uses and 4.16.3 Alternative Land Uses for areas that will be affected by surface mining at the NHN mine area. Pre -mining Land Use Summary A detailed description and accompanying pre -mining land use conditions map is found in Section 2.04.3 and on Map 2.04.3-1, New Horizon North Mine Land Use Map. In this discussion of postmining land uses, only the current land use definitions found in Section 1.04 are used. The extent of these pre -disturbance land use categories is shown on Map 2.04.3-1. This analysis shows that there were a total of four pre -mining land use categories, further broken down into 13 subcategories corresponding to the current or proposed DRMS land use categories within the areas corresponding to the NHN Mine Area. Each of these corresponding land uses, their corresponding area and the percentage occupied by this specific land use are presented below. Grazingland is the single largest current land use consisting of 170.39 acres and accounts for approximately 51.8 percent of the NHN permit area. Pastureland is the second largest existing land use and consists of 138.23 acres and accounts for approximately 42.0 percent of the NHN Mine permit area. Residential land use, which includes roads, accounts for 18.77 acres or 5.7 percent of the NHN permit area. Developed water resources correspond to 1.49 acres or 0.5 percent of the NHN Mine Permit Area. Land use and baseline vegetation studies (Sections 2.04.3 and 2.04. 10) conducted during Fall 2008 and Summer 2009, as well as results obtained from interviews with the current landowners, other local operators and residents in the area along with discussions with local governmental officials, show that the predominate pre -mine land use can be described as agricultural based largely on the availability of irrigation water and the current level of management. Vegetation types such as the Wetland type are present as a result of irrigation in the area and are used and managed in a fashion that is essentially identical to Irrigated Pasture. Baseline studies also show that Wetland and Irrigated Pasture plant communities are very similar in vegetative composition and often are used interchangeably depending on the operator's needs. After several years of production as Irrigated Pasture and/or following -the abandonment of irrigation, the Irrigated Pasture areas become dried out and become dominated by more invasive dryland species and are slowly invaded by species such as Russian Knapweed (Centaurea repens), Quackgrass (Agropyron repens), Western Wheatgrass (Agropyron smithii) and Buckhorn plantain (Plantago lanceolata). The most intensively managed areas found on the NHN Mine Area correspond to the Intensively Managed Irrigated Pasture areas found on the Garvey Property, which are managed at a much higher level of intensity due to regular applications of fertilizer and water. All areas are used as Pastureland or Grazingland during other periods in the year, especially as winter feeding areas based on operator needs. With the exception of the Intensively Managed Irrigated Pasture areas, management is typically not at a high level. Other than farmsteads, facilities, and a small abandoned orchard, the large extent of natural vegetation consists of the Section 2.05.5 Page 1 Sept. 2015 (TR -11)