Common use of Recommended Practices Clause in Contracts

Recommended Practices. The recommended practices below must comply with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act and Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act. Consult with your biologist prior to implementing these practices for assistance. a. Prescribed Grazing (CP 528, CP 382, CP 614, etc.): Livestock grazing can maintain a mosaic of short herbaceous vegetation along with a patchwork of soil disturbance (i.e., bare soils), while limiting shrub mottes, which may benefit TKR habitat (▇▇▇▇▇▇ 1992, ▇▇▇▇▇▇ et al. 2009, ▇▇▇▇▇▇ et al. 2010). A rotational grazing prescription may be necessary to promote a mosaic of habitat types and avoid overutilization by cattle (▇▇▇▇▇▇ 2002, ▇▇▇▇▇▇ et al. 2009). Overutilization of native grasses (i.e., excessive or intensive grazing without sufficient recovery periods) reduces competition from grasses and could lead an increase of woody vegetation that would be detrimental to TKR habitat (▇▇▇▇▇▇ et al. 2017, ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ et al. 2019). A grazing plan that meets site- specific objectives and addresses stocking rate, frequency of rotation, and contains a plan for drought conditions should be developed and agreed upon by a resource specialist and the landowner. Highly utilized areas (e.g., supplemental feeding and watering areas) should be strategically dispersed across the site, allowing for interspersed patches of bare ground. For best results, a forage inventory, including livestock water and supplemental feed locations, should be conducted to obtain a baseline of forage production as a starting point for developing stocking rates. The type of grazing system, forage production, landowner’s objectives and water availability will help determine initial stocking rates to achieve goals. High-intensity, low-duration or patch-burn grazing systems are recommended, but any grazing system that can produce suitable TKR habitat is authorized. Livestock management