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~; United States Soil nEi'~ED f~~ Department of Conservation A ri 1 2 1984 REt, . ~ - Agriculture Service p + ~r'~ • ` Mr. Clem Parkin Getty Mining Company 23385 Routt County Road 33 Oak Creek, Colorado 80467 Subject: Pasture Management practices in the Twenty Mile Park area. Dear Clem: In response to your request to describe pasture size, plant communities and management practices on pastureland in the area of your mine property, I have prepared the fallowing description. In clarifying your questions about pasture sizes and plant comunities, there may be any number of pastures within an operation varying in size from under one hundred acres to several hundred acres. Twenty Mile Park has been extensively fenced which facilitates the ability of land owners to intensively manage the grazing on 'their property in relatively small pastures, usually under 1,000 acres in size. Because fences were primarily built to separate land • ownership along section lines and to fence out cropland and hay meadows which are irregular in shape, the resulting mosaic of pasture boundaries include a diversity of plant communities. It is not uncommon to have pastures which contain a monoculture of smooth brome, a mixture of pasture species, predominantly native plant communities, or a combination of all vegetation types within the same pasture unit. This may not necessarily be the mast ideal practice from a resource basis, but much of the land has been historically fenced and managed that way. As you are aware, the most ideal management of a given resource, for example a hay field, would be to fence it and manage it separately. However, this is not usually practical or economical for operators to do. There are a large number of land owners in the Twenty Mile Park area who have entered into Resource Managment Plans with our office. The management plans are similar to each other in that they are based on our Standards and Specifications for Deferred Grazing guidelines which we have adapted to the conditions prevailing in Routt County. Deferment periods are based on physiological requirements, phenology, vigor of the plant community, the number of pastures in the operating unit, and the climate. The system is designed to prevent overuse which would adversely impact the resource. Local operators usually graze their land year long even though some have Forest Service permits which they graze during the summer. Under either system, except for early spring or fall grazing, their management plans require that they defer grazing in each pasture at least once in a three year rotation. This allows periodic rest for the key species during their critical growth period. The degree of use following deferment is the same as that on the other pastures. Within those areas where hay is cut on a regular basis, fertilization is recommended to meet the objectives of the operator and the long term maintenance ~ •~~, .~:L 0