PERMFILE47151 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Section 779.22 (a) Continued. • Permit Area) would be conversion of some minor acreages of current rangeland to pastureland by removing the brush. The conversion of rangeland to pastureland or of pastureland to cropland would also be feasible prior to mining. Such changes are unlikely however as current trends on lands adjacent to the proposed permit area are for cropland to be converted to pasturelands. Premining Productivity Productivity of the rangeland and pastureland areas on the proposed permit area in terms of forage production, ground cover and carrying capacities as obtained from Range Site Descriptions prepared by the USDA - Soil Conservation Service for the proposed permit area are found in Table 42, Forage Production, Percent Vegetative Cover and Carrying Capacity By Range Site. As can be observed from Table 42, Forage Production, Percent Vegetative Cover and Carrying Capacity • By Range Site, annual forage production in teens of pounds of air dry forage per acre during normal precipitation years averages 1411 lbs/A across the permit area with a range depending on site from 400 to 2000 pounds per acre. Animal carrying capacity during normal years averages 1.41 animal months per acre with a range of 0.5 to 3.0 animal unit months on grazing per acre. Site specific data on pasturelands in terms of productivity and carrying rapa- cities are similar to those reported for the native range site descriptions. According to the information contained in Table 81, Land Use Capabilities and Cropland Potentials Within the Proposed Energy Fuels Corporation Permit Area, pasture yields under in- tensive management are reported b}• the Soil Conservation Service to range between 1.5 to 2.0 tons of dry matter per acre. Site spe- cific forage production figures for the proposed permit area can be found in Section 779.19. Wood products have never been a historic use of the aspen and oak • trees found within the proposed permit area. Aside from a very 779-312