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mines adjacent to the permit area were operated by local individuals in the past. The abandoned <br />Independence or Oberding Mine is located about 1,300 feet north of the study area in the <br />NE/SW'/o, Section 31 (T47N RI 5W). This mine covers approximately 15 acres underground <br />and operated during the 1920's and 1930's, though there is evidence that some activity occurred <br />as late as the early 1960's. The abandoned Nix Mine is located in the NE'/ SE'/, Section 36 <br />(T47N RI 6W). This mine operated until about 1926 and covers about seven acres of <br />underground workings. The Tuttle Mine (NW '/ SW % Section 31 (T47N R15W) was marked <br />by a waste dump and some discarded mine rail. Period of operation and extent of mining in <br />unknown, but both are presumed to be minor. All three operations mined the lower Dakota <br />seams and appear to have been involved only in local coal sales. <br />The land use within the permit area is predominantly agriculture using irrigation. Areas of non- <br />irrigated sagebrush rangeland occur as scattered remnants and are used for livestock grazing. <br />Irrigation has allowed for a higher and better land use to be attained than if natural precipitation <br />was relied on for agricultural use. With the latter, only grazing of rangeland by livestock (at low <br />stocking rates) and occasional use of wood products from the pinyon juniper stands would be <br />attainable. <br />For further background information on land use, the reviewer is directed to Section 2.03 (Legal, <br />Financial, Compliance and Related Information); Section 2.04.4 (Cultural and Historic <br />Resources Information); Section 2.04.9 (Soils Resource Information); Section 2.04. 10 <br />(Vegetation Information); and Section 2.04.11 (Fish and Wildlife Resources Information). <br />June 2016 (TR -73) 2.04.3-11 <br />