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The current principal land use along the Purgatoire River within the permit area is <br />industrial. This area has historically been used for mining support facilities and for <br />disposal of underground development waste generated from the New Elk rotary <br />breaker. The Las Animas County Planning and Land Use office administers land use <br />in Las Animas County. Under these zoning requirements, coal extraction is allowed <br />by special use permit in all zones except residential. The New Elk Mine was in <br />operation prior to any zoning requirements within the County. Therefore, the New Elk <br />Mine has not been required to obtain a special use permit for continued operation and <br />is considered grandfathered (see Exhibit 5, Las Animas County Correspondence). <br />Recently, permitted facilities, such as the refuse disposal area and prep plant, have <br />also been exempt from special use permits (Exhibit 5). <br />The land within the permit area has the capability for several types of land uses. <br />Those lands close to the Purgatoire River can be used for production of hay and small <br />grains. However, productivity of the permit area is limited by the high elevation and <br />short growing season. Therefore, those lands near to the river are used as pastureland <br />and occasional hay production. This land use is consistent with the existing land use <br />of the area. The Las Animas Coil Conservation Service and the Colorado State Forest <br />Service have estimated productivity of the permit area before mining. Exhibit 6, <br />Productivity Information, shows the estimated productivity of these lands under high <br />levels of management. The Soil Conservation Service estimates that approximately 1 <br />ton per acre of hay could be harvested from the irrigated pastureland near the <br />Purgatoire River. <br />Steep slopes in the southern portion of the permit area have been used for rangeland. <br />Productivity of these lands for grazing is quite low. The SCS estimates that it takes <br />approximately 80 acres of this land to support an animal unit on a year round basis. In <br />these same steep hills, a minor amount of forestry products could be harvested. This <br />forestland must be carefully managed to prevent erosion of the soil. The Colorado <br />State Forest Service estimates that this land is capable of producing from 40 to 65 <br />cubic feet of wood fiber per acre per year (Exhibit 6, Productivity Information). <br />However, there are no current markets that would be economical for a contract <br />lumbering operation. The area is best suited for fish and wildlife habitat because of <br />the limited capabilities and productivity of the land as rangeland. <br />Fish and wildlife habitat are considered those lands adjacent to disturbed areas that are <br />not leased for rangeland (Map 4, Premine Land Use). This includes the Middle Fork <br />of the Purgatoire River and adjacent banks. Underground development waste has been <br />deposited up to the edge of the river that basically eliminated the riparian habitat. The <br />uplands adjacent to disturbed areas have been mapped entirely as wildlife habitat <br />because steep slopes, shallow soils, limit the present capability of these lands and rock <br />outcrops. Previous vegetation studies suggest the carrying capacity would be 56 <br />acre /AUM (Department of Range Science) because of the current industrial land use, <br />adjacent to wildlife habitats, the capability of these areas for wildlife development will <br />TR -68 Page 2.04 -3 (Revised 3/21/14) <br />