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Using the "50 Percent Rule" commonly used in range management, wherein half of the forage is <br />harvested and half is left to maintain the vigor of the plant community this means that there is <br />approximately 14,147 pounds of forage which can be grazed at this site. Using the commonly <br />accepted rule that one Animal Unit Month (AUM) is the amount of forage a mature cow eats in <br />one month and equals approximately 1,000 pounds of air dry forage, there is the equivalent of <br />approximately 14.1 AUM's available at this site. The Landowner has indicated that he has three <br />cow calf pairs and one bull, If all of these animals where to graze the Raton Creek Mine <br />reclamation it would equal 4.2 AUM's per month. This means that there is approximately 3.36 <br />months worth of grazing from the reclaimed areas at the Raton Creek Mine. <br />These assumptions aze very conservative in that they ignore the approximately equal azea or <br />undisturbed rangeland within the fenced area containing the Raton Creek Mine Reclamation. <br />Using the calculated forage production obtained from the original vegetation baseline sampling <br />of 29.74 grams per square meter which is equal to 265 pounds of air dry forage per acre. The <br />amount of usage forage on the undisturbed areas within the fenced enclosure is approximately <br />7,155 pounds of air dry forage. This translates into approximately 7.1 AUM's or 1.7 months <br />worth or grazing given the current livestock mix of the landowner. Including this area means <br />there is a total of approximately 21.2 AUM's of total grazing available at this location or given <br />the current mix of cattle owned by the landowner, there is conservatively, approximately 5.04 <br />months of grazing on this site. Our recommendation is that grazing be allowed on this site as <br />soon as the necessary approvals aze obtained. <br />