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' The current principal land use along the Purgatoire River within <br />the permit area is industrial. This area has historically been used for <br />mining support facilities and for disposal of underground develognent waste <br />generated from the New Elk rotary breaker. Land use in Las Animas County is <br />administered by the Las Animas County Planning and Land Use Office. Under <br />these zoning requirements, opal extraction is allowed by special use permit <br />in all zones except residential. The New Elk Mine was in operation prior <br />to any zoning requirements within the County. Therefore, the New Elk Mine <br />has not been required to obtain a special use permit for continued <br />operation and is considered grandfathered (see Exhibit 5, Las Animas County <br />Correspondence). Recently permitted facilities, such as the refuse <br />disposal area and prep plant, have also been exempt from special use <br />permits (Exhibit 5). <br />The land within the permit area has the capability for several <br />types of land uses. Those lands close to the Purgatoire River can be used <br />for production of hay and small grains, however, productivity of the permit <br />• area is limited by the high elevation and short growing season. Therefore, <br />those lands near the river are used as pastureland and occasional hay <br />production. This land use is consistent with the existing land use of the <br />area. Productivity of the permit area before mining has been estimated by <br />the Ias Animas Soil Conservation Service and the Colorado State Forest <br />Service. Exhibit 6, Productivity Information, shows the estimated <br />productivity of these lands under high levels of management. The Soil <br />Conservation Service estimates that approximately 1 ton per acre of hay <br />could be harvested from the irrigated pastureland near the Purgatoire <br />River. <br />Steep slopes in the southern portion of the permit area have been used <br />for rangeland. Productivity of these lands for grazing is quite low. The <br />SCS estimates that it takes approximately 80 acres of this land to support <br />an animal unit on a year round basis. In these same steep hills, a minor <br />amount of forestry products could be harvested. This forest land must be <br />carefully managed to prevent erosion of the soil. The Colorado State <br />• Forest Service estimates that this land is capable of producing from 40 to <br />2.09-3 <br />