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West Elk Mine • Gunnison National Forest Within the West Elk Mine permit area, the U.S. Forest Services manages approximately 4,100 acres of public land located in T13S, R90W, 6th P.M. All U.S. Forest Service lands aze within the Gunnison National Forest. These lands fall within Management Areas SA and 6B. Management Area SA is generally located south and west of Minnesota Creek and north of an imaginary line connecting Mount Lamborn and Beaver Reservoir within the Gunnison National Forest. Management Area 6B is roughly bounded on the southwest by Minnesota Creek, on the south by Gunnison Creek, on the east by Coal Creek, and the north by the Forest boundary. The topography of the azea is steep with vegetation communities ranging from sage-grass to oakbrush and Douglas fir forest. Given the rugged topography, relative inaccessibility and predominantly undisturbed vegetation communities, the historic land uses of the azea have been limited to livestock grazing, wildlife habitat, and dispersed recreational activities (hunting, trapping, horseback riding, and some off-road vehicle use). The Forest Service has not developed or provided a discussion of the capability of the land to support a variety of uses, recognizing that the historic land uses have been limited to those identified above. The management emphasis for Management Unit SA (identified as wildlife habitat on Map 67) is to optimize winter range for big game, including deer, elk, pronghoms, bighorn sheep, and mountain goats (iJSFS 1991). It is noted that it is unlikely thatpronghoms,bighom sheep, or mountain goats would be found in the specific lands within the West Elk Mine permit azea. Grazing in this management unit favors big game, with a goal of maintaining vegetation in mid-seral or better • range condition. Emphasis is placed on maintaining shrub species with varied age structure. Livestock use is to be limited to that not needed by big game species. Dispersed recreation is to be managed to limit winter use to very low or low densities. The existing pre-mining management prescription for Management Area 6B (identified as rangeland on Map 67) is livestock grazing (USFS, 1991). A description of the management prescription states in part, "The azea is managed for livestock grazing. Range condition is maintained through use of forage improvement practices, livestock management, and regulation of other resource activities. Conflicts between livestock and wildlife are resolved in favor of livestock." Compatible land uses include dispersed recreational activities, and wildlife habitat. Land capability and productivity is assessed in terms of providing adequate forage for the livestock grazed on the management area as a whole. The capability guideline is to maintain capability at 60 percent of potential, and to allocate no more than 80 percent of available forage to livestock, leaving the remainder for big game populations. The only USFS grazing allotment within the permit azea is the Dry Fork C&H allotment. This allotment covers portions of Sections 20, 21, 22, 26, 27, 28, and 29 within the permit area. The Dry Fork allotment covers 31,849 acres with 15,124 acres considered suitable for grazing. Since 1988, the USFS has prescribed a two herd, eight pasture modified rest/deferred rotation grazing system. The prescription calls for 607 cow/calves to be grazed between June 16 and October 15, for a total of 2,428 animal unit months. • 2.04-3 RevisedJun. /995 PR06