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<br />850 TREES )10\'t:D
<br />:\tore than S2D,OOO was spent
<br />to dig up 850 trees-aspen, fir,
<br />spruce, pine-from 4 10 -10 feet
<br />high and transplant them to
<br />provide a lOQ-yard.long test
<br />screen to a huge tailing pond,
<br />The test plot, that is watered
<br />almost daily, will show what
<br />kind of trees can best survive
<br />the transplant shock. Eventual-
<br />Iv more trees wl1J be moved to
<br />farm a screen more than a
<br />third of a mile long.
<br />While more than 300 acres of
<br />timber were harvested, much or
<br />the waste was chipped for
<br />mulch instead of being burned,
<br />Topsoil is stockpiled until
<br />final earth moving and con.
<br />struction is complete and then
<br />it will be distributed, seeded
<br />and planted with grasses,
<br />shrubs and trees,
<br />The 10,000 gallons of water
<br />needed each minute in the mill.
<br />ing procesS is to be recycled, a
<br />process that saves water and
<br />avoids poJlution,
<br />The 5,000 gallons a minute ?f
<br />warm .....ater encountered. In
<br />sinking shafts to the working
<br />mine level is being aerated ~.
<br />cool and oxgenate it before It
<br />goes into clear Creek via set.
<br />tling ponds.
<br />~ew" concepts in power nne]
<br />rights of way and screening
<br />were pioneered by Climax and
<br />Public Sef\'ice Company of Col-
<br />orado. ~o more wide, straight
<br />5'\-'athes through the mountains.
<br />The wires and towers are Ireal.
<br />ed to blend instead of contrast
<br />with their surroundings.
<br />Acres of grass now green dls.
<br />turbed slopes that would have
<br />bren ignored before. A tertiary
<br />sewage treatment plant, almost
<br />a high.altitude experiment at
<br />10,320 feet, is planned for the
<br />mine and offices,
<br />In the next century, when
<br />mining Is over, plans for using
<br />the rescn-oirs and tailings
<br />ponds already have been out-
<br />lined.
<br />
<br />Fundamental to all this are
<br />the ecological inventories mad.
<br />and continuing under the direc
<br />tinn of Dr. John Marr. note(
<br />L'niversity of Colorado ('COla
<br />gist. and Or. Richard Heidle
<br />man, of Colorado Colll'ge, an(
<br />others involved in the Coloradf
<br />environmental movement.
<br />"This way we knov.-' what thE
<br />situation was, what it is, and i:
<br />it changes how it's changed Sl;
<br />we know what to do about it "
<br />Gilliland said, '
<br />"\Ve'U ha\'e the aclual data.
<br />Instead of guessing and theoriz.
<br />ing, 1'1-'1"11 know," he said, He
<br />was referring to plant, wildlife,
<br />Water life and other continuing
<br />studies.
<br />One of the really tough
<br />~rublems is tailings reclama-
<br />tion. Work at the old Climax,
<br />Colo.. mine has proven the
<br />challenge, Dr. William Berg of
<br />Colorado State University, is
<br />seeking reclamation answers
<br />under a Climax grant.
<br />PROVIDE ACCESS
<br />Not all the environmental im.
<br />provements have worked, One
<br />that faUed was Climax plans 10
<br />open up thousands of acres of
<br />its own land in the Williams
<br />For k Valley, and provide
<br />aN:eSS to the Arapaho National
<br />Forest, for hunters and
<br />campers,
<br />But the guests drove their
<br />vehicles across meadows
<br />mountainsides and In othe~
<br />ways tore up the land, The area
<br />Is now barred to vehicular
<br />acce,ss, Don Stephens, Climax,
<br />publIC relations representative
<br />said, '
<br />"It's still open," he said,
<br />"you just have to walk or ride
<br />a horse."
<br />, He, said Climax Is considering
<br />runnmg a t.....ice.a--dav truck
<br />route In the area this fall. Then
<br />
<br />.\)
<br />C)
<br />
<br />..:...
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<br />c:
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