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1 1 4.3 SOIL INVENTORY, SALVAGE AND STORAGE Critical to the establishment of permanent, diverse vegetation communities is the reconstruction of suitable plant growth mediums during the reclamation process. Soil reconstruction planning begins prior to initiation of disturbance activities through soil inventory and survey. Soil surveys provide qualitative and quantitative infomtation on the types and amounts of material available within the area to be disturbed. The United States Department of Agriculture's Natural Resource Conservation Service ("NRCS") soil surveys from the Rio Blanco and Rifle areas were used to develop this section. These surveys will be a valuable resource during project development and operations. Inventories contain qualitative soils information that may be used to select appropriate methods and practices to be employed to ensure soil stability in restored areas. Inventories allow the development of management plans for salvage, storage and reconstmction critical to successful restoration. Soil conservation activities in the field will be initiated after perimeter erosion and sediment controls have been established and prior to site development. Methods used to evaluate soil resources available within the areas to be disturbed, salvage and storage methods and practices, and reconstruction procedures are described below. Soils in the project area are typically poorly developed due to low available moisture, cool ' temperatures and slow vegetative growth. Soil series to be disturbed by the various project components and their characteristics are presented in Table 2. The majority of the soils to be disturxd are well drained with low to moderate water-holding capacities. A number of the ' soils Gave high percentages of rock fragments, while some are moderately to highly susceptible to erosion. A few of the soils are known to have alkalinity or salinity problems. The high variability and gecerally poor development of soils, coupled with potentially limiting soil reconstruction characteristics, will need to be carefully considered and possibly evaluated in the ' field during the development of site-specific salvage plans. Salvage of the best-suited soil reconstruction materials is a key element to site stabilization and successful revegetation. 1 1 1 1 Prior to disturbance, the perimeter of the area to be disturbed will be visibly marked with flagging, stakes or other appropriate visible markers. Salvage operations will remain inside the perimeter of the marked boundary. If differential handling of soil materials is to occur, areas requiring such handling will be clearly delineated (e.g., non-salvage or special handling areas). Any woody vegetation within the area to be disturbed that has the potential to interfere with soil salvage, storage or reconstruction will be physically cleared. It will either be physically removed from the area or chipped and spread across the soil surface prior to soil salvage as an organic amendment and mulch. Root systems will be left in place where feasible, as long as they do not pose a safety concern for workers or an impediment to equipment or rubber-tired vehicle access. Species present in the undisturbed plant community will be taken into consideration when determining bow woody materials will be treated. If the predominant woody species are known to contain objectionable levels of allelopathogens, the chipping and mulching alternative will not be exercised in order to avoid seedling establishment and growth problems in permanent revegetation efforts. Areas with high concentrations of greasewood, juniper and rubber rabbitbrush will be avoided by mulch chipping operations. Woody materials that are removed from the immediate disturbance area will be used in some beneficial manner. Woody materials may be used for wildlife habitat improvement or mitigation measures on adjacent undisturbed lands or on reclaimed areas following other restoration operations. If woody materials to be cleared are suitable for firewood they may be made available to the public at locations adjacent to public access routes at American Soda's Amai~ao Soda LLP. cl-2 Soil Coaservatron, Fmsiao and Sedioxot Control, Reclamation, and Rn~egeladoa Ran OtWber 1B, 199g