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confirmed by the Routt County Land Use Map prepared by the Soil <br />Conservation Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1973. A <br />recent update of the Routt County Land Use Map entitled "Primary and <br />Secondary Farmland" prepared in 1979 by USDA - SCS, lists croplands <br />within the proposed permit area as secondary farmland. <br />The records of the previous landowners were compared with documents <br />furnished by the USDA, Agricultural Conservation and Stabilization <br />Service to determine the historic land use patterns within the <br />proposed permit area. According to these sources, no evidence was <br />found indicating that land use had changed within the five (5) years <br />prededing mining. <br />Examination of Map 2, Fish Creek Tipple Land Use, reveals that <br />pastureland was the predominant land use within the proposed permit <br />area. Pasturelands in the vicinity are either cut for hay or grazed <br />by livestock during the spring, summer or fall. The pastureland <br />• within the proposed permit area was actively managed for grazing and <br />rarely cut for hay. <br />Alfalfa-grass hay mixtures were historically planted on areas <br />designated as cropland in the mine plan area. After the final hay <br />cutting each year, livestock were generally allowed to graze the <br />stubble. <br />Another land use existing within the proposed permit area, yet is not <br />included in the land use categories defined in 1.04, is mined land and <br />the activities associated therewith. The Twentymile Coal Company <br />considers these disturbed areas as lands "previoulsy mined" and <br />therefore, has delineated the uses of the affected land preceding <br />mining. <br />(b) A narrative of land capability and productivity which <br />analyzes the land-use description under 2.04.3(2) in conjunction with other <br />• <br />2.04-3 <br />