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Section 2.04.3 Page 5 December 2021 (RN-02)  <br /> <br />Given the obvious regulatory certainty that “rangeland” will be dropped and “grazingland” added <br />in its place, in two consultation meetings held with the DRMS personnel, NHN was directed to <br />prepare the Land Use information in this permit application as if the OSM definition has been <br />approved in the Colorado regulatory program. Accordingly, this discussion does not contain a <br />discussion of “rangeland” and the accepted OSM definition of “grazingland” as has been <br />proposed in the new DRMS regulation is used in its place. <br /> <br />As are shown on Map 2.04.3-1, New Horizon North Mine Land Use Map, a total of four of these <br />land use categories occur with the NHN Permit Area. These include Grazingland, Pastureland, <br />Residential and Developed Water Resources. A brief discussion of each of these land use <br />categories is presented below. <br /> <br />Grazingland. This land use category is the largest land use category found in the NHN Mine <br />Area. There are five different “Grazingland” land use sub-categories on this site which include: <br />Grazingland-Reclamation (GL-REC), Grazingland-Sagebrush (GL-SB), Grazingland- <br />Subirrigated (GL-SI), Grazingland-Reclaimed Spoil (GL-RECS) and Grazingland-Drainage <br />Channel (GL-DC). <br /> <br />Grazingland-Reclamation (GL-REC) occupies that portion of the original NH1 Mine, mined by <br />PCC between about 1978 and 1983, and is found on the southern end of the NHN Mine Area. <br />The mining and reclamation on this site were almost totally performed under the standards of the <br />federal “Surface Mining and Reclamation Act of 1978,” which resulted in the establishment of <br />the federal Office of Surface Mining (OSM) and the corresponding Colorado Division of <br />Minerals and Geology, now called the Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety (DRMS). <br />These regulations required that the topsoil be salvaged before mining, with the site being <br />regraded to approximate original contour (AOC) following mining, the replacement of the <br />salvaged topsoil and the planting of the site to a dryland pasture seed mixture. Grazingland- <br />Reclamation occupies a <br /> <br />Grazingland-Sagebrush (GL-SB) is the next most common land use subcategory found on this <br />site. This type occupies large tracts on the north and east portion of the original NH1 Mine site <br />and covers extensive portions of the northern portion of this site, especially to the north of <br />Meehan Draw and includes most of the western portions of the Glasier Property. While this type <br />is dominated by native vegetation, principally Basin Big Sagebrush, it has been used extensively <br />over the years as a winter feeding ground and grazing area and the native vegetation is in a <br />relatively poor ecological condition class. This land use subcategory on the north side of Meehan <br />Draw has extensive piles of old baling twine, indicating extensive and heavy feeding of <br />wintering livestock on these sites. <br />