2010-02-09_PERMIT FILE - C1982056A (6)

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Pasturelands • Examination of Map 3, Premining Land Use, reveals that pastureland including reclaimed pasture, is the most extensive pre-mining land use within the permit area. As indicated in the previous discussion for croplands, management units of pastureland in Twentymile Park are controlled by fence lines. Because fence lines in Twentymile Park were built to separate land ownership, croplands, and hay meadows which are irregular in shape, the resulting mosaic of pasture boundaries include a diversity of plant communities. As discussed in Exhibit S, Pasture Management Practices in the Twentymile Park Area, it is not uncommon to have pastures which contain a monoculture of smooth brome, a mixture of pasture species, predominately native plant communities, or a combination of all vegetation types within the same pasture management unit. Pasturelands in and adjacent to Twentymile Park are cut far hay or grazed by livestock during the spring, summer, or fall. Pasturelands within the proposed permit area are actively managed for grazing and occasionally cut for hay. Exhibit 5, Pasture Management Practices in the Twentymile Park Area, also describes the management practices on these lower pasturelands. Pastureland units within the permit area range from small to moderate in size, and exhibit carrying capacities of from 1.03 to 2.18 animal unit months (AUMs) per acre. These carrying capacities are based on 1984 productivity data, an assumed 50 percent utilization rate, (USDA, Soil Conservation Service National Range Handbook) and an assumed consumption rate of 1,000 pounds of dry matter per Animal Unit Per Month. Local operators typically graze these pastures at or below their carrying capacities during spring, summer, and fall seasons, beginning mid-May and ending in October. The normal rotation allows for a particular pasture to be rested once every three years to allow key forage species to complete their reproduction before grazing is resumed. The duration of grazing during a given year on a given pasture is typically controlled by common sense rather than a particular management plan. When plants have been grazed to the proper utilization height, the operator moves his • animals to the next unit. The numbers of livestock in given categories for Routt County are presented in Table 3, Routt County Recent I-listorical Livestock Statistics. Raneelands The third major land use within the permit area is that of rangeland. As defined under Rule l.(kl(71)(c), Rangeland is that land "on which plant cover is principally valuable for forage". It differs from pastureland primarily as management is only achieved by regulating the intensity of grazing and season of use, rather than improvements (fertilization, interseeding, etc.) which may be implemented above and beyond grazing management. As encountered within the permit area, grazing management within rangelands does not differ significantly from that on pasturelands with the exception of intensity of use. The canying capacity on upland rangelands is 0.67 AUMs per acre. These grazing capacities are generally lower than those on the pasturelands. As with pastureland grazing management, local operators graze their animals at or below these levels, and they typically rest management units one year out of three. Mined Land TCC and Routt County consider coal mining a use of the land. Although mining is temporary as opposed to long term uses of the land, it is significant and, therefore, has been included here. For active mines, Routt County has either zoned and area for mining or granted Special Use Permits for the life of the operation. Land use within the permit will govern the postmining land use to be targeted by reclamation. The surface facilities and resulting reclamation of underground mining may cause minor changes in vegetation, however, the targeted . postmining land use will be pastureland. APPROVED JUN 2 S 2000 PR 99-OS 2.04-4 03/28/00