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Department of Agricultwe, State agricultwal universities or appropriate State natwa] resowces or atrricultura] <br />agencies. <br />f31 The application shall state whether the proposed permit area has been previously mined, and, if so, <br />the following information. if available: <br />(al The type and description of mining method used: <br />Lb) The coal seams or other mineral strata mined: <br />(c) The extent of cog] or other mineral removed: <br />(d] The approximate dates of past mining: and <br />(e] The uses of the land Qrecedine mining_ <br />(fl The location and extent of acreage disturbed by previous swface coal mining and <br />reclamation operations. <br />(4) The appcation shall contain a description of the existine ]and uses and land use classification <br />under local law. if anv. of the proposed Hermit area and adjacent areas. <br />RESPONSE <br />TCC has included in this permit revision application a description of the premining environmental <br />resowces existing within the proposed permit and adjacent areas, which may be affected by the planned <br />• mining activities. These descriptions can be found in the responses to Rules 2.04.4 through 2.04.12, which <br />immediately fol]ow this section. ]nformation presented in these sections was obtained from site-specific <br />studies during 1984 and/or previous years, historical records, personal communication with reliable <br />individuals, and local agency personnel. The information presented is based on what TCC believes to be <br />sound engineering and scientific reasoning. The information acquired from these sources was confirmed <br />and augmented through comparison with adjacent undistwbed sites. <br />Land use categories, as defined under Rule 1.04(71), occurring within and adjacent to the proposed permit <br />area aze indicated on Maps 3 and 3A, Premising Land Use. The dominant premising land uses are <br />identified on these maps and include cropland, pastureland, and rangeland. Two subordinate and <br />coincidental land uses aze also known to occw in the area of Twentymile Park; wildlife habitat and <br />recreation (almost exclusively in the form of hunting). The dominant land use designations aze confirmed <br />by the Routt County Land Use Map prepared by the USDA, Soil Conservation Service (SCS). A recent <br />update of this map entitled "Primary and Secondary Farmland" lists cropland within the proposed permit <br />area as secondary farmland. Postmining land-use designations may be found on Map 3B (Postmirring Land <br />Use). <br />The definition of "land use", as given in Rule 1.04, is stated as "specific uses or management-related <br />activities, rather than the vegetation or cover of the land." Therefore, TCC has complied with this <br />defmition for the identification of azea land uses and their identification in Maps 3 and 3A, Premising Land <br />Use. For instance, pastweland is defined under Rule 1.04(71)(6) as land "actively managed for grazing, <br />browsing, or for occasional hay production". Smooth brome pastwes, some native grasslands, and many <br />haylands readily fit this definition. Inclusion of the term "browsing", however, confimrs the intent to not <br />exclude from the pastureland classification ]ands on which shrubs aze a component of the plant community. <br />• Land that supports plant communities containing shrubs will obviously not be cut for hay, but can be used <br />or managed as pastureland. This understanding of pastureland management in Tweniymile <br />TR06-52 2.04-2 02/17/06 <br />