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A grazing management plan or an equivalent treatment will be <br />implemented for at least the last two full years of the liability <br />period. The management plan will include flexible stocking rates and <br />current livestock management practices to ensure the appropriate level <br />of annual forage consumption. <br />Guidelines suggested by the SCS (1976) will be used to formulate the <br />proposed grazing management program. Intensity and duration of use <br />will be based upon growing conditions at the time grazing trials are <br />scheduled to begin. Exact stocking rates are impossible to predict at <br />this time. Stocking rates will be calculated using the accepted <br />assumption that a mature cow of approximately 1,000 pounds and a calf <br />as old as 6 months equals one animal unit. For a mature ewe or ram, <br />the animal -unit equivalent of 0.20 will be used. Wildlife allowances <br />shall be 0.20 animal units for a mature mule deer and 0.55 animal <br />units for each mature elk. Flexibility in the size and composition of <br />the livestock operation will allow for optimum usage of vegetation <br />during years of sub - normal and above average forage production. <br />Distribution of livestock for uniform forage utilization will be <br />accomplished using one or more of the following: herding, fencing, <br />watering facilities or the placement of forage supplements. <br />Vallentine (1971) reviewed the literature relative to water <br />development and grazing distribution and concluded: "Cattle should <br />not have to travel more than one - quarter to one -half mile from forage <br />to water in steep, rough country, or more than one mile on level or <br />gently rolling range. However, sheep and horses can travel longer <br />distances ". Vallentine reported that during spring and summer months <br />when forage is green, water distribution was found to have little <br />effect on big game distribution. <br />Stoddard and Smith (1955) reported that in excessively steep country <br />"cattle should not go more than 2 mile for water, though in more level <br />areas this can be increased. Even in flat country they should not be <br />expected to travel more than 22 miles ". Reclaimed land within the <br />2.05 -54 <br />