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• w <br />LAND USE <br />The regional land use surrounding the Edna mine rnnyes from coal mining to irrigated <br />hay and wheat production, the principal Land use being rangeland. The Land use map, <br />Exhibit 2.9-1, and classification system/description, Volume 5, Section 2.9, were supplied <br />from information compiled by the U.S.G.S. in 1979 on T,and Use and Land Cover Flap of <br />Craig, Colorado and U.S.G.S. Professional Fa per 964. <br />Within the permit area and adjacent area, the land use is rangeland with clusters of <br />forest land, irrigated and subirrigated hay fields adjacent to Trout Creek, as well as <br />previously mined land, reclaimed and unreclaimed. The [Jest Ridge area was mined and <br />abandoned prior to the purchase of this mine by Pittsburg and Midway Coal Company. <br />Therefore, the pre-mining land use for this disturber] area is unknown. The Moffat area, <br />thus far unmined, is rangeland used for summer sheep grazing. <br />The productivity of the rangeland in the permit area during the summer months is one <br />cow unit or five sheep units per twelve acres. Thn_ production data for the irrigated <br />land along Trout Creek is approximately 2 tons of hay per acre. Detailed management <br />plans for rangeland are presented i.n Volume 10, Section 4.5. <br />CULTURAL RESOURCES <br />The archaeological surveys bu the Colorado State University Laboratory of Pub _'ic <br />Archaeology and the Grand River Institute recomiized a past-Archaric component in the <br />general area, but no sites were fount] in the permit area. T,ater use in the area was <br />probably by Protohistoric groups such as the Ute or .Shoshoni, again no evidence was <br />found in the immediate area. A number of prehistoric sites r~:ere found along Trout <br />Creek, but they were all on the [:'est bank opposite of the area to be mined. <br />Fli th the advent of the iu sto tic and modern era, the nei•; occupation of the area has <br />been marked by cultural change; from the fur trappiny age, through early settlement, <br />to the coal mining era. The first mine within the permit area was adjacent to the <br />Haybro District. The llaybro District being primarily an area for boarding houses, mine <br />officials and a da.;ce.hall. T,4e ma~o on page 173 of the Gra.^d River Lastitute's publi- <br />cation, Oak CreeF: Expansion: Cultural P.es ources In centory, shows features of historic <br />district. The date on the tipple reads 1920. The alternate mine access road and the <br />tipple sediment ponds are locar_ed within the district. <br />