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63 <br />4. If mulch is used, it is recommended that a seed-free straw or native <br />1 <br />1 hay mulch be used. Excelsior is too expensive for large-scale reclamation, <br />and straw with a high viable seed content introduced too much competition <br />during early stages of plant establishment. <br />5. Plastic netting to hold straw mulch is undesirable due to slow rates <br />of decomposition and inhibition of early seedling growth. Crimping might <br />I prove satisfactory. <br />6. Gypsum amendments to the spoils did not influence plant growth and <br />should not be included in a large reclamation program. <br />J 7. Irrigation aids seeding establishment and is recommended at this <br />site because of the accessible water supply found in the Purgatoire River. <br />I 8. Topsoil should be spread over the spoils to improve organic matter <br />• content and plant response and to reduce long-term maintenance costs. Further <br />~._ experimentation with this material is warranted since present treatments have <br />failed to match plant growth on undisturbed sites adjacent to the mine. <br />9. Current Main Plot treatments should receive continued monitoring to <br />determine if the amendments added will produce a stand of vegetation compara- <br />I <br />ble to that existing on the Reference Areas in time. <br />10. Same provision to minimize the impact of domestic and wild animals <br />until stands are well established must be considered. Fencing, some methods <br />' of rodent control, and possible substitution of less palatable species in the <br />seed mixture might all prove necessary in post-mine management. <br />