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1.0 INTRODUCTION <br />This 2014 Annual Revegetation Monitoring Report is for the reclamation program at Mesita Hill <br />Mine (DRMS Mine Id # M- 1977 -227) owned by MWCA, Inc. Mesita Hill Mine is an open -pit vol- <br />canic scoria mining operation encompassing a 201.2 -acre permit area (175 acres of disturb- <br />ance) and is located in Costilla County of southern Colorado in the San Luis Valley. The mine is <br />in the San Luis Hills, south of Highway 160 and east of Highway 285, 2 miles (3 kilometers) <br />west of the community of Mesita (Sec 26, Township 2 North, Range 74 West of the a Principal <br />Meridian; Figure 1 in Appendix A). Scoria has a specific market and the mine, which has been <br />in periodic operation since 1948, is currently inactive. <br />The site was surveyed by Ingrid Bamberg, Bamberg Ecology LLC, on June 1, 2014 and on Sep- <br />tember 1, 2014, to identify the current stage of reclamation progress. Revegetation progress, <br />including recent germination of perennials and annuals, and general conditions of the reclaimed <br />areas were evaluated. Since no quantitative revegetation criteria are required for this mine site, <br />the site was monitored using qualitative survey methods for plant cover species composition, <br />and was photographed for documentation. This report discusses the current status of the mine <br />site's reclamation. <br />2.0 SITE DESCRIPTION <br />The Mesita Hill mine site is a broad, low- relief, basaltic shield volcano with typical slope angles <br />of one to two degrees. The scoria material in this location is only slightly welded and, due to <br />slow market demand, has been mined over the long term. For this reason and that no explo- <br />sives have been used, the Mesita Hill mining operation has been relatively undisruptive to the <br />surrounding landscape and community. The mine has several pits and rock outcrop areas with <br />the north pit, at about 40-50 feet deep, the largest remaining unfilled on the property (Figure 2 in <br />Appendix A). <br />The San Luis Valley is a semiarid landscape with vegetation dominated by drought - tolerant <br />shrubs and shortgrass prairie species. Shrubs in the surrounding landscape are generally of a <br />low- growing habit and are dominated by broom snakeweed (Gutierrezia sarothrae), rabbitbrush <br />(Chrysothamnus sp.), winterfat (Krascheninnikovia lanata), and saltbush (Atriplex sp.). Grasses <br />are dominated by blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis); other grasses may historically have been <br />1 <br />