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EYHIBIT J (Cont'd) <br />1 <br /> <br />1 <br />1 <br />1 <br />1 <br />1 <br />1 <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />1 <br />1 <br />1 <br />1 <br />1 <br />1 <br />II. Older stockpile areas <br />A. Overburden, unplanted - richly diverse stands of pioneer species. <br />Some of type 2 species present but numerically unimportant. <br />B. Soil, unplanted - very few old soil areas present, but apparently <br />after about an estimated 25 years soil and overburden areas <br />are only marginally distinguishable by the vegetation growth. <br />C. Soil, planted & Overburden, planted - none seen. <br />In general it appears that planting soil helps avoid need infestati:,rs tt:a.t <br />typically can be very troublesome on areas being reclaimed with topsoil. The <br />"weed" invasion of overburden areas, irrespective of their composition, is very <br />similar and involves, for the most part, native invaders that are usually found on <br />severe natural disturbances. It may be that the more troublesome weeds such as <br />Canada Thistle and Russian Thistle take advantage of untended topsoil, but, at least <br />on this site and in these materials, they cannot compete with native pioneer species <br />or with planted species. However, the competitive process of shifting species com- <br />position to the most favorable species takes a very long time to complete and may be <br />under the control of soil development processes. <br />In general, because the planted topsoil stockpiles are producing a rich growth <br />(cover of about 75%) in the clayey soils and such stands are generally free of <br />serious weeds, it can be concluded that revegetation of topsoiled areas has an <br />excellent chance of good success with relatively few problems. On the other hand, <br />if topsoil is not used in the reclamation, the final success will take much longer <br />to achieve even though the final result will be basically similar. <br />47 <br />