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adjacent land use patterns and trends as well as the policies of Montrose Co. Conversion of <br />Irrigated Pasture/Cropland areas to dryland pasture will not present an actual or probable hazard <br />to public health or safety, nor will it result in an actual or probable threat of water flow <br />diminution or pollution contrary to any state or federal laws, policies or regulations. Such a <br />conversion will not alter or result in any unreasonable delays in reclamation. It will not have <br />adverse impacts on fish, wildlife, related environmental values, or any of the habitats associated <br />with threatened or endangered species. <br />As required by Rule 4.16.3(6) with respect to alternative land uses, the reclamation of the current <br />Irrigated Pasture/Cropland land uses to similar land uses "would require continuous <br />maintenance" and "sufficient water" both of which the existing landowners on the Glasier and <br />ERMR-Meehan properties are either unwilling or unable to provide. Since they are unwilling or <br />unable to provide these inputs, it is impossible for NHN to reclaim these disturbed lands to their <br />current land uses. <br />NHN believes the reclamation of these current Irrigated Pasture/Cropland land use areas to <br />dryland pasture is consistent with Rule 4.16.1, which require that the lands disturbed by mining <br />be reclaimed "to conditions that are capable of supporting the uses which they are capable of <br />supporting before any mining" or "to higher or better uses ..." Given the absence of water it is <br />impossible to reclaim these lands to their pre -disturbance capability. Also it is important to point <br />out that reclamation of these lands to dryland pasture is not as described by the Dryland Pasture <br />vegetation and land use type which is currently producing an average of only 348.6 pounds of <br />air-dry forage per acre but instead will be similar to that associated with the Dryland Pasture <br />Reclamation found on the Rice Tract on the old NH 1 Mine, where the vegetation baseline studies <br />described in Section 2.04. 10 document an average of 845.0 pounds of air-dry forage is currently <br />being produced. NHN acknowledges this forage production level is less than the current average <br />of 3,285.3 pounds of air-dry forage per acre being produced on the Irrigated Pasture/Cropland <br />vegetation type and land use type, but this is simply not a realistic goal since the water on all of <br />these areas is not available. <br />Section 2.05.5 Page 5 January 2018 (PR -02) <br />