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products from litter than negatively influence plant growth. <br />Work in New Mexico, by Fowler and Witte (1987), on plots dominated by One -seed Juniper and <br />Pinyon Pine, the plots were thinned on the basis of 0, 33, 67 and 100 percent of the net crown <br />cover. Five years after thinning the total herbaceous forage production averaged 471, 234, 2,536 <br />and 7,913 pounds of air -dry forage per acre. <br />Summarizing the results of the previous 10 years of new research on the interaction of herbage <br />production and grazing on the Pinyon- Juniper type conversion projects, Clary (1987) <br />summarized six studies, covering dozens of sites performed on grazed sites, that prior to tree <br />removal, the average production was 278 pounds per acre, after tree removal production <br />averaged 525 pounds per acre. Across all grazed sites an average increase of 729 pounds per <br />acre of useable forage was realized. On ungrazed sites, Clary (1987) summarized three studies <br />showing that prior to treatment, the average forage production was 333 pounds per acre, while <br />after treatment the production averaged 666 pounds per acre. Across all grazed sites, the average <br />post treatment useable forage production increased 999 pounds per acre. <br />Revegetation of the Pinyon- Juniper type in the Western states was summarized by Johnsen <br />(1987), who reported that in addition to the normal issues associated with reseeding, the Pinyon - <br />Juniper vegetation type was unique in that Juniper litter reduces the surface soil wetability under <br />the tree canopy, markedly reducing water infiltration. Soils under One -seed Juniper did not wet <br />as deeply as soils in the interspaces between the trees, which could potentially delay or prevent <br />the seedling establishment of other plant species. He also reported that the tree canopy <br />intercepted between 3 to 34 percent of the rainfall. The burning of the Juniper slash after tree <br />removal sometimes left the soil bare for several years and was possibly the result of organic <br />compounds in the Juniper slash which were vaporized during the burning process. <br />Woody Plants Recommended for Use in Coal Mine Reclamation and Wildlife Plantings in <br />Southeastern Colorado. <br />In an early evaluation of the plant species useful in revegetating disturbed lands in the west, <br />Wasser (1982), provided information on the use of 98 total species, including 26 different shrubs <br />and 25 different trees considered to be "important and commonly used for stabilizing and <br />reclaiming surface mined and other disturbed lands" in the Western United States. Among the <br />shrubs considered suitable for plant for coal mine revegetation and which were either <br />encountered in the sampling of the shrub density transects or observed at the Southfield Mine, <br />were included: Big sagebrush, Fourwing Saltbush, True Mountain Mahogany, Curlleaf Mountain <br />Mahogany, Rubber Rabbitbrush, Douglas Rabbitbrush, Antelope Bitterbrush, Skunkbush Sumac <br />and Western Snowberry. Trees included Rocky Mountain juniper, One -seed Juniper and <br />Ponderosa pine. <br />Woody plants recommended for mined land reclamation in Colorado were made by Office of <br />Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (198 8) who reported that of the species of trees or <br />shrubs suitable for planting in Colorado for Colorado Major Land Use Resource Areas (MLRA) <br />which include MLRA -69 corresponding to the Upper Arkansas Valley Rolling Plains area, <br />where the Southfield Mine is located include: Fourwing saltbush. Rubber Rabbitbrush, Russian- <br />7 <br />