Laserfiche WebLink
scale, land use categories follow the ten (10) category land use classification scheme • <br />specified in the Regulations of the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board for Coal Mining <br />(The Code of Colorado Regulations 2 (:CR 407-2, 1980, 17-18 ). <br />Regional Patterns. Regional land u:.e patterns are shown on Map 1. In general, land use <br />patterns are oriented in three relatively distinct bands from the Yampa River south. 1'he <br />most intensive agricultural uses are found in the Yampa River Valley. Irrigated cropl~ind <br />and hayland are closely associated with the floodplain of the Yampa River. To the south, <br />dryland small grains such as winter wheat are grown on the sloping upland su rfaa:s. <br />Within this area, the steeper slopees are generally used as rangeland with some farming <br />being done on these slopes as well. The area south of Township 6 North (approximately 9.5 <br />miles south of Hayden) is mostly hilly artd mountainous terrain (see Photo t, Appendix <br />4-1). This area is primarily used as rangeland for sheep and cattle and provides a <br />variety of habitat for wildlife. A limited amount of irrigated cropland occurs along the <br />East Fork of the Williams Fork River in the southern part of the region and just south of <br />Sage Creek Reservoir. Non-agricultural land uses are generally limited within the region. <br />Residential areas are generally confined to the town of Hayden and its immediate vicinity <br />with isolated single family structures or farmsteads the exceptions. Industrial land uses • <br />shown in Map 1 include the Yampa Valley Airport (A) and the Hayden Electric Power Plant <br />(B) in the Yampa Valley. Scattered oil, gas, and methane drilling activities are loc:~ted <br />throughout the region and has increased in the late 1980's. <br />Other areas categorized as industrial include five active and inactive surface coal mining <br />operations - Sun Coal (inactive) (C), Peabody Coal Company (D), Yampa Mining Company <br />(inactive) (E), The Rockcastle Company (inactive) (F), and the Colorado Yampa Coal Com~~a ny <br />(C). In addition, W.R. Croce formerly operated a coal loading facility (H) just south of <br />Hayden. The coal mining operations are all located in the hilly to mountainous areas <br />south and southeast of Hayden. <br />Average productivity figures and livestock numbers for the various agricultural land uses <br />are shown in Table 4-1. The dominant agricultural land use in the county is the grazing <br />of livestock on approximately 450,000 acres of rangeland. Livestock classes and estimated <br />numbers using these lands are 112,500 head of cattle and 200,000 head of sheep. An <br />individual per acre stocking rate for the county can not be given because of insufficient <br />production data on the numerous and highly variable vegetation types and individual • ~, <br />operator management objectives. <br />6 <br />