Laserfiche WebLink
A. Status of species that have been present in the past:Recent spraying of Circium <br /> thistles has greatly reduced the presence of these species, although they remain locally <br /> abundant. Spurge seems to be declining, however,riparian areas were not checked and <br /> it is likely still abundant in those areas as this species is entrenched in those habitats. <br /> But compared to what was present 10 years ago, it is a great improvement. As noted <br /> previously, cheatgrass is still abundant all over the property and seems to have had a <br /> "good"year in 2016. The tumbleweeds appear to be much reduced, perhaps as a <br /> result of the reintroduction of grazing or more competition from the native grasses. <br /> Cattle love to eat these when the plants are young,but generally won't touch them <br /> when the plants become larger. <br /> B. New weed species: White and yellow sweetclover may have been planted by another <br /> lessee on the 2014 reclamation area. Control should be considered,but, as this is not <br /> something Schmidt did, who ever did plant it should control it. These species have no <br /> business on this property as it could easily become a problem species. Sweetclover <br /> does improve the nitrogen content in the soil,but there are much better ways to do that <br /> than with these potentially invasive sweetclovers. Sweetclover is actually not a very <br /> good nitrogen fixer. Dryland alfalfa fixes 3 to 5 times more nitrogen than sweetclover <br /> and it is rarely invasive. Cicer milkvetch is even better, but it is more difficult to <br /> establish. <br /> 2. Weed status on lessee responsibility lands: As described above. <br /> OTHER INFORMATION THAT MIGHT BE USEFUL FOR FUTURE REFERENCE: No <br /> particular information was gathered in the last year that would be relevant to future operations. <br /> However, the outstanding rate of development in the 2014 reclamation area needs to be watched <br /> closely as clues for future vegetation management may be found there. This area is developing in an <br /> environmental array that is quite different from anything that was done or seen before. <br /> DESCRIPTION OF UNUSUAL CONDITIONS OR EVENTS: No unusual events or conditions <br /> were encountered in the last year, except for the sudden appearance of sweetclover. Everything else <br /> remained quite stable. <br /> PHOTOGRAPHS: Please refer to the photographic documentation CD for photographs of the site <br /> taken in the last year. <br /> PHOTOGRAPHIC DOCUMENTATION: One CD of photographs is included with this report. <br /> This includes all the photographs of this site taken in the last year. No images were retouched, <br /> although some images were adjusted to produce a better balance in tone and color rendering. Each <br /> image contains the EXIF data for that image so it can be determined exactly when the image was <br /> taken and other pertinent photographic information. <br /> (Note: A copy of this report, less photodocumentation CD's, must also be provided to the Colorado <br /> Division of Reclamation,Mining and Safety to be included in the Reclamation Permit file as well as <br /> the United States Army Corps of Engineers. However,the Corps has stated that they do not want a <br /> copy.) <br /> Status report for 2016 due July 15, 2016 Page 6 of 6 <br />