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Because of the proximity of the site to the town of Nucla, a small amount of residential <br /> use (outside of the farmsteads) has occurred in the northeast and southeast portions of <br /> the proposed permit area. Four homesites occur in these areas and range from mobile homes <br /> to traditional permanently located homes. Within the study area, three additional <br /> residences also occur, all on the east side of the study area. Though residential would <br /> be one of the highest and best uses of the land, the present status of the local economy <br /> most probably precludes any additional residential expansion in the area. <br /> There has been no surface or underground mining activity within the proposed permit or <br /> study areas. In addition to the currently operating Nucla surface coal mine northwest of <br /> the mine expansion area, two underground coal mines adjacent to the study area were <br /> operated by local individuals in the past. The abandoned Independence or Oberding Mine is <br /> located about 1 ,300 feet north of the study area in the NEkSWk, Section 31 (T47N R15W). <br /> This mine covers approximately 15 acres underground and operated during the 1920s and <br /> 1930s, though there is evidence that some activity occurred as late as the early 1960s. <br /> The abandoned Nix Mine is located in the NE$SEk, Section 36 (T47N R16W). This mine <br /> operated until about 1926 and covers about seven acres of underground workings. Both <br /> operations mined the lower Dakota seams and appear to have been involved only in local <br /> coal sales. <br /> The land use within the permit and study areas for the proposed Nucla East Mine expansion <br /> is predominantly agriculture using irrigation. Areas of nonirrigated sagebrush rangeland <br /> occur as scattered remnants and are used for livestock grazing. Irrigation has allowed <br /> for a higher and better land use to be attained than if natural precipitation was relied <br /> on for agricultural use. With the latter, only grazing of rangeland by livestock (at low <br /> stocking rates) and occasional use of wood products from the pinyon-juniper stands would <br /> be attainable. <br /> For further background information on land use, the reviewer is directed to Tab 3, <br /> Adjudication File; Tab 5, Cultural Resources; Tab 9, Soil Resources Survey; Tab 10, <br /> Vegetation Baseline Studies; and Tab 11 , Fish and Wildlife Resources. <br /> 4-9 Revised 04/11/88 <br />