NEPA--Environmental Assessment

allotment. The approximately 800 acres of private land within the allotment consists mostly of
mining claims.
Grazing in this area began in 1915. The earliest records available date back to 1929. The present
Deer Park Allotment was is now made up of the former Cunningham Gulch and Deer Park
Allotments. Records are unclear when Cunningham Gulch was absorbed into Deer Park. From
1929 to 1934, the number of sheep that grazed Cunningham Gulch fluctuated between 400 and 720
head. The grazing season was July 1 st through September 20 th . In 1935, 500 sheep were permitted
to graze the allotment. From 1945 to 1948, 1,000 head grazed the Cunningham Gulch. In 1951 the
season was shortened and began in mid-July. The stocking rate decreased to 800 head in 1953. By
1959 the permits began to distinguish between BLM and Forest Service land use. There were no
records of the BLM grazing permits. One thousand head began to graze Cunningham in 1969, and
by 1975 the permit actions were addressed to Deer Park (National Forest) and Cunningham Gulch
(BLM) allotments. In 1984, the operating instructions were only made up for Deer Park while still
including the BLM permitted sheep. During the mid 1980’s, 900 to 1,100 sheep grazed Deer Park
from mid-July until mid-September. From 1887 to the present, 1,000 sheep have been permitted to
graze Deer Park Allotment. The permitted sheep access the Deer Park allotment by being trucked to
and from the corrals in Cunningham Gulch and then trailing from those onto the allotment.
Elk Creek Allotment
This allotment is located approximately 5 miles east of Silverton, Colorado. Elevations vary from
10,000 feet to 13,600 feet. This allotment contains approximately 6,550 acres; 350 are private. The
northern half of the allotment, 1,200 acres, is administered by the Bureau of Land Management, the
southern half, 5,000 acres, is administered by the Forest Service and is within the Weminuche
Wilderness. The terrain consists of high ridges and steep slopes with canyons throughout rugged
mountains. The cover type on the allotment consists of some subalpine vegetation with Engelmann
spruce and subalpine fir plant communities, mountain meadows, and mostly alpine meadows
dominated by numerous grasses and forbs.
There are 350 acres of private mining claims on both the Forest Service and BLM portions of the
allotment. These claims are not fenced, so they are grazed. Recreational use of this allotment is
significant due to most of it being within the Weminuche Wilderness and having the Continental
Divide Trail bordering the entire west boundary of the allotment.
Grazing in this area began in 1915. The earliest records available of grazing date back to 1949. Elk
Creek Allotment was formally divided into two allotments, North Elk Creek and South Elk Creek
Allotments. From July 11 th to September 15 th , 600 head of sheep grazed South Elk Creek from July
1 st to September 15 th . In 1950, the numbers increased to 900 head. Records of grazing North Elk
became available in 1953, when 1000 head grazed each of the north and south allotments of Elk
Creek, and the season on South Elk Creek was reduced from Mid-August to mid-September. In
1959, the numbers of North Elk Creek were reduced to 900, and in 1968, South Elk Creek was also
reduced to 900 head. In 1969, the allotments combined to form Elk Creek Allotment as it is today.
From July 11 th to September 15 th , 1000 head grazed Elk Creek. In 1985, the Forest Service
permitted 785 sheep and the BLM permitted 215 head to graze the allotment. In 1994, the Stoney
Allotment of the Rio Grande National Forest (Creede Ranger District) was incorporated into the
grazing rotation. Currently, 1000 sheep are permitted to graze the Elk/Stoney Allotment (785 FS
and 215 BLM). The permitted sheep access the Elk Creek allotment by being trucked to and from
the corrals in Cunningham Gulch and then trailing from those onto the allotment.
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