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Show year- long grazing is also practiced, it is desirable to divide the range into summer and winter allotments. Rainfall here is 5 to 15 inches per year with very little runoff. The mountain brush type is found at an elevation of 5,000 to 7,500 feet between the sagebrush and conifer types. It often mixes with those types and aspen. Brush species such as oak, chokecherry, mountain mahogany and maple are dominant here. This type is used by livestock as late spring range. Average precipitation ranges from 15 to 22 inches annually. Runoff is greater here than in other forage types but is still moderate as compared to wetter areas. The mountain grassland type, dominated by grasses, forbs, and grasslike plants, is found above 7,000 feetc This small, but highly productive area, is important summer range for livestock and big game. Precipitation here depends highly upon elevation and ranges from 20 to over 40 inches. Runoff is moderate to high. The conifer range type is dominated by Douglas fir, lodgepole pine, Englemann spruce, blue spruce, alpine fir, ponderosa pine, and grass and brush areas. It extends from 6,500 feet to the timberline ( approximately 10,750 feet). Dense stands limit forage production, but open stands provide excellent forage. Climate limits grazing by livestock to 3 to 4 months during the summer. Rainfall averages 18 to 40 inches or more per year. Runoff is generally high in these areas. The aspen type, interspersed with the conifer type, is found in mountainous areas from 6,000 to 9,500 feet in elevation. It is among the most productive range types because of its tall, luxuriant undergrowth of grasses, forbs, and shrubs. It is prized as summer grazing land for cattle, sheep, and deer. Average annual precipitation is 20 to 35 inches. Moderate to high runoff occurs in this type. The table below shows range forage types in thousands of acres for the three counties lying entirely within the Uinta Hydrologic Area accounting for the major portion of the hydrologic area. Figures are for 1960. Forage Types ( 1000s of acres) Daggett Duchesne Uintah Total Saltbush Greasewood Other desert shrubs Sagebrush Grassland meadow Pinyon- juniper Mountain brush Aspen Conifer Total range land Non- grazing lands include wastelands and urban and transportation areas, Cultivated lands are not included as they were mentioned under arable lands. Land Ownership Map # 15 shows land ownership in the Uinta Hydrologic Area. Land ownership is divided into 13 categories, most of which are federal and State agencies. The table on the next page shows the breakdown of land ownership in the three counties that lie entirely within the Uinta Hydrologic Area. Figures are in acres for 1967. 189 485 674 14 50 64 39 426 465 154 142 503 799 5 153 47 205 19 719 852 1,590 14 119 63 196 1 148 67 216 42 362 111 515 235 1,885 2,604 4,724 |