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~~ • -5 • volunteer ponderosa pine trees, 15 - 24" high established in the spoil material spread across the lower level area. This provided tY,e basis for planning to reclaim the site with similar species of seedlings. Some oak brush was observed off the site and may be suitable for transplanting with the owr,er.'s permission. d) Reclaiming the benches are not p.ractica.l or supported by evidence ir, the natural state. e) Flease see the cross-section sketches attached to this letter. f) Sketch maps are provided. 2. For the lack of available topsoil material ,itiless the cedar slope is mined, led to the suggestion for planting about 40 pine seedlings (about 12" high) on the reshaped stockpile storage area. To do so would require Yiand place- ment in a pocket of topsoil. material brought in from nearby non-mined lard off-site. We would propose to dig a hole in*_o the porous material, add the equivalent of a 5 gallon bucketful of topsoil material, firm-up the seedbed and ~~l.ant a seedling tree. This method has been used successfully on other sites and with only short term care cou]d produce good results. If the cedar area is mined then the potential for obtain- ing more topsoil material would provide a medium for still more trees at the base of the slope. Temporary seeding of the topsoil stockpile would be done with mixtt,res suitable for a shallow foothills range site. Seeding rates would be double the drilled rates for a critical area since the heavily rock laden material would need to be seeded by hand. Therefore, a mixture of dryland wheatgrasses such as crested wheatgrass and intermediate wheatgrass seeded at the rate of 16 - 18 lbs/ac. would be incorporated into the surface area by hand. The sunny exposure in the center of the low lying valley @ 7350' elevation will be well suited for the grass seed mixture. 3. The amount. of topsoil available on the site under the best circumstances would be sufficient to establish only 1/6th of the lowest level area in grass. Therefore, use of the topsoil material in random spots across the lowland area would speed the healing process for wildlife cover. To tY,at end it may be possible to plant a total of 40. pine tree seedlings in the lower area where now only 5 or b trees have managed to become established in the 13 - 15 years singe the area was last mined. 4. The lower level totals 2.15 ar_res. If no mining takes place on the cedar slope and thus the availability of on-site topsoil, planting 40 trees seems very reasonable (about 20/ac). If more topsoil is available because of mining, restoration of a layer of topsoil material a*_ the base of the rocky slope on the u~zworked ledge (as shown on the map) and planting a cluster of 60 more trees in two or mo~g rows would provide additional cover on the approximately SZ acres of ledge area.