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2.5 LAND USE <br />~ According to the Bureau of Land Management's 1980 report "Proposed Wilderness Study Areas", there <br />are no lands within or adjacent to the proposed mine plan area that are considered for wilderness desig- <br />nation (see Map 27). <br />Lands within Moffat County are, by and large, divided between public lands in the western portions of the <br />County and private lands in the eastern portion. As shown in Table 2.r1, private land ownership <br />accounts for only 35°h of the available surface within the County, with the remaining 65°!° considered as <br />public land. <br />The greatest portion of Moffat County can be classified as rangeland and pasture, followed next by <br />forest, dry cropland, irrigated cropland, and built up areas (Orton, 1975). The total of all cropland in <br />Moffat County is 124,297 acres, mostly in wheat and badey (Monarchi and Rake, 1973). <br />Current zoning in Moffat County focuses on the cRy of Craig and built up areas around Craig, which <br />occupy less than 1% of the land. <br />The majority of Trapper Mine's proposed permit area is considered rangeland by the Colorado First Soil <br />Conservation District (USDA 1975). There are no established recreational fadlhies within the proposed <br />• permit area, but presently residents do use portions of 8 for recreation, such es crosscountry skiing, <br />_riowmobiling and hunting. The heaviest use exerted on these areas occurs during hunting season in the <br />ail of each year. _ <br />n contrast, areas used for farming comprises a much smaller portion of the proposed permit area but are <br />subject to heavy pressures created by the constant use of farming equipment, and therefore require <br />more intensive management. Refer to Map 28 for premining cropland areas present within Trapper <br />Mine's proposed mine plan area. Tillage practices for winter wheal, the most common crop, consist of, <br />but are not limited to, discing, seeding, aerial application of herbicides for weed control, harvesting, <br />tallowing every other year, and deep plowing approximately every third year prior to seeding. Farming <br />areas a2 more susceptible to erosion and soil loss than rangeland because of lack of a permanent vege- <br />tative cover, tallow practices, and a general lack of contour fanning. <br />No areas within Trapper Mine's proposed permit area ar adjacent area is considered or has been desig- <br />nated unsuitable (or mining. <br />_.. <br />2-170 --- - _ _. <br />~. __Z11~ <br />~~---- <br />