2011-08-04_ENFORCEMENT - C1981008 (4)

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6. "Deficit Irrigation of Alfalfa for Water- Savings in the Great Plains and Intermountain West: A Review and Analysis of the Literature," by R. Bradley Lindenmayer, Neil C. Hansen, Joe Brummer, and James G. Pritchett published in Agronomy Journal, Vol. 103, issue 1, pages 45 -50, 2011. H. The Importance of Prime Farmland In the Farmland Protection Policy Act (FPPA, passed as part of the Agriculture and Food Act of 1981) (7 USC 4201) Congress found, "the Nation's farmland is a unique natural resource and provides food and fiber necessary for the continued welfare of the people of the United States; and that a continued decrease in the Nation's farmland base may threaten the ability of the United States to produce food and fiber in sufficient quantities to meet domestic needs and the demands of our export markets. " The term "farmland" includes prime farmland which is defined as, "land that has the best combination of physical and chemical characteristics for producing food, feed, fiber, forage, oilseed, and other agricultural crops with minimum inputs offuel, fertilizer, pesticides, and labor, and without intolerable soil erosion, as determined by the Secretary. " The term farmland also includes, `farmland, other than prime or unique farmland, that is of statewide or local importance for the production offood, feed, fiber, forage, or oilseed crops, as determined by the appropriate State or unit of local government agency or agencies, and that the Secretary determines should be considered as farmland for the purposes of this subtitle. " 7 CFR 657 states, "NRCS is concerned about any action that tends to impair the productive capacity of American agriculture. The Nation needs to know the extent and location of the best land for producing food, feed, fiber forage, and oilseed crops. " The federal regulations at 30 CFR 823 affirm that prime farmlands have been designated as a national resource worthy of special environmental protection performance standards. The regulations at 30 CFR §823.4(a) and (b) delegate to the Federal Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) within each state the responsibility for establishing prime farmland soil reconstruction specifications, and state regulatory authorities shall use the specifications to carry out their prime farmland responsibilities. In sum, farmland, and particularly prime farmland, is a national resource due to its high agricultural value. L Evaluation of compliance with the requirements of the applicable regulations: The evaluation and report contained herein was requested by the OSM Denver Field Division as a means of aiding DFD's response to a number of citizen complaints related to prime farmland reclamation plans and practices approved by the Colorado Division of Reclamation and Mining Safety (DRMS) for the New Horizon Mine located near Nucla, Colorado. More specifically, this 3