PERMFILE52799 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

• soil type 12 (Beenom-Absazokee Loams, 5-20% slopes), though portions of it extend up into 74. The soil for this lower area can therefore be expected to be deeper and less stony. Thus, simple examination of the soil survey would lead one to expect some differences in the communities supported in these two areas. During May reconnaissance, the aeeas appeared to be sufficiently different to warrant separate sampling. The lower area appeared to be much weedier, with a larger amount of cheatgrass. The upper meadow was paced and estimated on the ground to be 5.68 acres (close to the final value) and therefore was expected to be a minor community. Sampling was planned at a less intensive level to supplement qualitative comments. However, when sampling began in early July, the perennial vegetation for both areas had become more dominant. At that point, the two aeeas appeazed to be more similar than different. It was decided that it would be hetter to combine the two • areas as one community and to sample them on a proportional allocation basis. The two meadows have different usage histories and soil types, but because both have probably been improved for grazing purposes, they are more similar than different. Rough fence posts and old traces of barbed wire surrounding the upper meadow underscore its probable creation for grazing of domesticated animals. It may have originally been part of the juniper woodland community, but no stumps were noted during sampling, indicating that the area has been in its present configuration for quite some time. The lower meadow, on the other hand, probably had a more intensive history. The west portion (west of the central disturbed area) was indicated as being the former Bowie town site. Traces of foundations were still evident for houses that apparently had been moved years before. In fact, the USGS Bowie quadrangle indicates the existence of as many as sixteen buildings and a road in that location which • 17